Renovations mark Michigan Theater's changes this fall

University students stepping onto campus this fall will find many differences in the Michigan Theater from when they left town.

The historic theater is undergoing a $4.4-million renovation that will peel off the current facade to restore the theater to its 1928 look.

The theater will sport several new rooms on the north side. The north side addition will include a 200-seat screening room that "will have state-of-the-art equipment," said Michigan Theater Executive Director Russell Collins.

STEVE GERTZ/Daily After 70 years of operation, the Michigan Theater is revamping itself - sort of. Renovations will be made to the streetside marquee and a new 200-seat screening room will be added to enhance the number of choices the theater offers.

Unlike the main 1,700-seat theater, which hosts traveling Broadway shows, rock concerts and other performances, the screening room will only be used for movies, Collins said.

The new rooms will increase the selection and frequency of movie screenings. Most movie distributors don't allow theaters to run movies for less than seven days, Collins said. With all the events the theater is used for, it is rarely set aside seven days for consecutive showings.

The theater opened in 1928 as a place to view silent movies accompanied by live organ music. This "multimedia" design set up the theater to cater both to video and musical performances, he said.

The renovations will be extensive, beginning with the theater's facade and adding decorative turrets to the corners of the building. The marquee itself, which dates back to when the theater was renovated in 1956, will be replaced by a smaller marquee to expose more of the facade's antique ornamentation.

The lobby and ticket booth will also be replaced by a booth that more closely resembles the original. The present walls in the lobby will be pulled down to display the earlier plasterwork that lies beneath them.

Collins said architects referred to the theater's original blueprints and early photographs for the restoration. The renovation is scheduled to be finished by December, he said.

Louisa Piper, Ann Arbor's historic preservation coordinator, said the city bought the building in 1979 primarily through the influence of then-Mayor Louis Belcher, who wanted to preserve it.

"It was considered a real asset to the community," said Piper, adding that it is unusual for a city to buy properties it wants to keep for community purposes.

"It's usually the worst way" to preserve a building, Piper said. "Rarely can a city organize the funding to buy it."

After the city purchased the theater, the Michigan Theater Foundation took over operations of the historic building. Today, 20 percent of the theater's operating costs are funded through private donations, Collins said.

Collins said the theater's non-profit status has allowed it to avoid the debilitating effects of market pressure on downtown theaters to give up space to retail operations or to subdivide into multiplexes.

The Campus Theater on South University Avenue fell victim to these pressures, Collins said.

"They tore that one down because it was inefficient to subdivide," Collins said. Collins said the State Theater was also affected.

"The State Theater used to be one big theater," Collins said. "The main floor was gutted and turned into real estate."

The State's balcony was converted into two screening rooms and its ground floor now houses the Urban Outfitters clothing store.

All the world's a stage The Michigan Theater is an Ann Arbor landmark, rich with a history that will be altered with the recent renovations. Below are some interesting facts about the theater's past and the changes. * Opened in 1928 as a silent movie venue complete with organ music * The marquee - originally installed in 1956 - will be updated and made smaller to expose more of the antique ornamentation * In addition to the current 1,700-seat theater, a 200-seat screening rooms will be added on the north side * A significant advantage the Theater has is its nonprofit status

09-08-98