# WOODWARD AVENUE CULTURAL HERITAGE TOUR

## THEATER DISTRICT

Built in the "Roaring Twenties," Detroit's Theater District, surrounding Grand Circus Park, is the second largest in the world in total number of seats. Only the Broadway area in New York City is larger.

The movie palaces built in this time were lavish buildings opulently decorated with exotic detail and furnishings. The 5,000 seat Fox Theater, the largest surviving 1920s movie palace in the country, features Burmese, Indian, Hindu, Persian, and Chinese motifs. *

The Theater District includes many restored wonders including the Fox Theater, a National Historic Landmark; the Detroit Opera House, formerly known as the Capitol Theater; the Gem and Century Theaters, relocated during the construction of Ford Field; and the State Theater.

Looking south on Woodward Avenue at the Fox Theater. The State Theater is visible in the distance.

Courtesy of the Morning Brothers Historical Collection

Interior of the Fox Theater, 1928.

Courtesy of the Burton Historical Collection

* from National Historic Landmarks statement

Downtown Detroit, Michigan

## THEATER DISTRICT

Courtesy of the Manning Brothers Historical Collection

Downtown Detroit, Michigan