The Fillmore Detroit is a multi-use entertainment venue operated by Live Nation. Built in 1925, the Fillmore Detroit was known for most of its history as the State Theatre. It is located near the larger Fox Theatre in the Detroit Theatre District along Woodward Avenue across from

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the home of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, the Tigers had played at the c ...

and Grand Circus Park. The Fillmore Detroit features a theatre with a Grand Lobby and three levels of seating, as well as the State Bar & Grill which has a separate entrance and is open when the theatre is not hosting events. The

Detroit Music Awards The Detroit Music Awards Foundation is a Michigan 501(c)(3) organization, whose mission is to recognize Detroit area musicians working on a national, regional, and local level. The Foundation supports and nurtures the musical community in Detroi ...

are held annually at The Fillmore Detroit in April. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1982.

History

The site of the Fillmore was previously home to an earlier theatre known as the Central and then, from 1913-1923, as the Grand Circus Theatre. This theatre was demolished to make way for the 1925 construction of what was then called the Francis Palms Building. The building was named for

Francis Palms Francis Palms (1809–1886) was the largest landholder in Michigan during the mid-1850s. He had major business interests as well and was given the nickname "Croesus" because of his wealth. Life and career He was born in Antwerp, Belgium December ...

, a Belgian native who moved to Detroit in 1832 and made his fortune in real estate development.State Theatre/ Francis Palms Building
from Detroit1701 Palms' descendants continued in real estate as the Palms Realty Company, and constructed this building at a time when Detroit's population and the popularity of movies was booming. The theatre was constructed in 1925 as a movie house in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style of architecture. C. Howard Crane was the original architect, and the building is still called the Francis Palms Building. The theatre was originally called the State Theatre when it opened in 1925. It was renamed the Palms-State Theatre in 1937 and the Palms Theatre in 1946. In 1982 it was renamed back to the State Theatre. And in 2007 (as a national re-branding) it was renamed, this time the Fillmore Theatre. The building is twelve stories high and covered with

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

, with an eight-story auditorium extending to the rear of the building.Palms, Francis, Building and State Theater
from the state of Michigan The office tower has elaborate Beaux-Arts Italian Renaissance decorations on all but the ground floor, which was modernized in about 1960.

Current use

The Fillmore Detroit is a concert venue for popular music acts as well as hosting many special events. The venue's current

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

is 2,900, 2,084 for reserved seating. The mezzanine and balcony levels still contain their original theatre seating. In March 2007, Live Nation announced that the State Theatre would become the Fillmore Detroit as part of a multi-city extension of

the Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fillm ...

brand, similar to what has been done previously with the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at Ha ...

franchise. Various changes were implemented to evoke the Fillmore's iconic venue in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The official inaugural show under the Fillmore Detroit re-branding was Fergie's June 13, 2007 performance. Live Nation has continued the gradual restoration of the Italian Renaissance theatre. The outer lobby and rotunda lobby were restored in the 1990s. The grand foyer columns and auditorium proscenium arch were more recent restorations. Live Nation has restored the barrel vaulted ceiling of the three story grand foyer, and has plans to work on the upper reaches of the auditorium in increments.

American Idol

In 2015,

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

held semi-finals at The Fillmore Detroit. Pre-recorded episodes were aired on Fox starting on February 25, followed by two live episodes, the series' first broadcast from outside Los Angeles, on March 3rd and 4th.

Gallery

Image:Palms Building - Detroit Michigan.jpg, The Palms Building houses the Fillmore Detroit theatre Image:FillmoreDetroitmarqueedaylight.jpg, The marquee extends over Woodward Avenue Image:StateTheatreDetroit.jpg, The Fillmore Detroit was known for most of its history as the State Theatre

References

External links

The Fillmore Detroit
website *''Cinema Treasures'' website of old movie houses profile
The State Theatre

Fillmore Detroit Myspace PageFillmore Detroit reopens after a summer of restoration
— Detroit News, October 5, 2018
Fillmore marquee to be completed this month, December 2018
— Detroit News, December 11, 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fillmore Detroit, The Cinemas and movie theaters in Michigan Theatres in Detroit Downtown Detroit Concert halls in Michigan Movie palaces Music venues in Michigan Performing arts centers in Michigan Event venues established in 1925 National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan 1925 establishments in Michigan Woodward Avenue