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Theater, Detroit, since 1928

Fox Theater Building

Still standing, photographed 2025

The Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan (United States), 2025 Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opened
1928
Style
Art Deco
Standing
98 years

Designed by C. Howard Crane

The Fox Theater Building has stood on Woodward Avenue in Detroit since 1928, 98 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

More photos of Fox Theater Building

The Fox Theatre in Detroit, 2022 Photo: JJonahJackalope, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit, Michigan with the marquee lit up for a show. New LED lights were installed in 2015 Photo: Stephanie Hume, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Auditorium of the Fox Theatre, Detroit, 2010 Photo: DDohler, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Standing

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 25, 2026. Nothing new at this address in the last two years.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

The Fox Theater Building opened in 1928, during the boom years when the auto industry turned Detroit into one of the fastest growing cities in America.

Credit the design to C. Howard Crane, working in Art Deco.

The federal government named it a National Historic Landmark in 1989, a status only a few thousand places in the country hold.

Next time you are nearby, stop at 2111 Woodward Avenue and look up.

Fox Theatre is a performing arts center located at 2211 Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, near the Grand Circus Park Historic District. Opened in 1928 as a flagship movie palace in the Fox Theatres chain, it was at over 5,000 seats the largest theater in the city. Designed by theater architect C. Howard Crane, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Timeline

  1. 1928 Built Designed by C. Howard Crane
  2. 1985 Listed on the National Register February 14, 1985
  3. 1989 Named a National Historic Landmark June 29, 1989
  4. 2026 Today 98 years and still standing

Where it is

2111 Woodward Avenue

On this map

  1. Fox Theater Building This place
  2. Fox Theatre 60 ft
  3. Francis Palms Building and State Theater 300 ft
  4. Fillmore Detroit 320 ft
  5. Colony Club Building 330 ft
  6. Blenheim Apartments 330 ft
  7. Park Avenue Historic District 330 ft
  8. Iodent Building 370 ft
  9. Detroit Building 400 ft

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

C. Howard Crane
Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

C. Howard Crane

American architect, 1885 to 1952. Designed the Fox Theater Building (1928) and 30 more in Metro Detroit

Also by C. Howard Crane

More from Detroit in the 1920s

Around the block

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. The Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan (United States), 2025 Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. The Fox Theatre in Detroit, 2022 Photo: JJonahJackalope, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. The Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit, Michigan with the marquee lit up for a show. New LED lights were installed in 2015 Photo: Stephanie Hume, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. Auditorium of the Fox Theatre, Detroit, 2010 Photo: DDohler, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. Hilberry Theatre at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 2006 Photo: Jtmichcock at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.