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Detroit’s iconic music hall sneaks up on you.
It looks pretty modest from the outside – just one more old building downtown nestled between parking lots and office towers. However, upon entering, you can feel it – the history, the style, the sound emanating from the walls.
It is one of the few genuine reminders that Detroit has always been a music city first.
Now, it’s being updated.
An additional 100,000 square feet that will cost about $125 million total is slated to be finished by 2027.
Developers say this will include new concert halls, rehearsal studios, and plenty of space for rising performers looking to strengthen their craft, something long overdue for a city that prides itself in being a safe space for musicians.
After all, Detroit has a wealth of talent.
Every kid who has ever picked up a guitar, learned piano in a church basement, or started rapping with friends in a garage is proof of that, and yet, there simply aren’t enough active venues to accommodate this degree of raw ingenuity.
Small performance spaces never have enough room for the kinds of crowds many artists attract. The Fox Stadium doesn’t have enough seats, and the current Music Hall is far too compact.
This expansion feels like a solution to this issue.
Sure, we’ve all seen “arts expansion” projects that have led to nothing more than ritzy galas and donor dinners rather than actual opportunities for regular people to create and experience art, but Detroit has always been different…it has never been a city that is only welcoming to the rich and famous. Plenty of its biggest music legends started out as complete unknowns, and this new music hall development hopes to be one of the pillars behind the rise of an entirely new generation of artists.
It’s a place intended for Detroit children with a deep love of music.
A place where working musicians can go to grind it out week after week.
And an affordable option for artists working on a tight budget who can not necessarily afford to shell-out big bucks for a Broadway ticket just to experience something live and real.
You can see construction booming everywhere you go downtown lately – Hudson’s tower, the University Project, even the new soccer stadium.
Most of it is about business, housing, or just commercial entertainment, but this expansion is one of the few that deals with culture – and above all else, keeping Detroit’s soul alive even as its skyline radically changes.