Wayne State University Buildings
About this property
The Wayne State University historic district consists of three buildings on 4735-4841 Cass Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan: the Mackenzie House (4735 Cass), Hilberry Theatre (4743 Cass), and Old Main (4841 Cass), all on the campus of Wayne State University. The buildings were designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1957 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Mackenzie House is a Queen Anne house designed by Malcomson and Higginbotham and built in 1895. The original occupant was Detroit banker Frank Blackman. In 1906, David Mackenzie, principal of Central High School and founder of the College of the City of Detroit, moved into the house, where he lived until his death. His widow, Esther, continued living there until 1935. After Esther moved out, Wayne State University acquired the house, using it as the headquarters of the Women's Guild. It later provided office space for a number of other entities in the university. In the mid-1970s, the Mackenzie House was slated for demolition, until a group of Wayne State students protested. Their successful effort created a new organization, Preservation Wayne. The building now serves as the offices of the organization, renamed Preservation Detroit. In 2018, plans were made to move the house to a new location within the same block to make room for the Hilberry Gateway Performance Project. The house was moved in April 2019. The Mackenzie House is a two-and-a-half-story red brick structure with a prominent round tower with a conical turret on one corner of the facade. A large wooden porch wraps around the opposing corner and shelters the front entrance. The building has a slate hipped roof with gables. The Hilberry Theatre was designed by the architectural firm of Field, Hinchman and Smith (predecessor of Smith, Hinchman and Grylls) and built in 1916-17 as the First Church of Christ Scientist. The auditorium was designed to seat more than 1,500 congregants. The Christian Science congregation used the building until 1961, when they sold it to Wayne State University. Wayne State remodeled the interior to create a theatre to seat 532 people, serving as a repertory theater. The building was re-christened in honor of Clarence B. Hilberry, the fourth president of WSU, and reopened in January 1964. The university continues to use the building to house its repertory theatre. In 2018, ground was broken on a major expansion project, the Hilberry Gateway Performance Complex. The Hilberry Theatre is a large rectangular two-story neoclassical building measuring 125 feet by 150 feet. The front facade is of a Roman temple design with six fluted ionic columns flanked by two half columns supporting an entablature. Behind the columns are seven recessed bays with alternating doors and windows on the first floor and windows above on the second. The two floors are separated by a belt course. The side facade facing Cass is of a similar form as the front facade.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Wayne State University Buildings
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Questions about this property
When was Wayne State University Buildings listed on the National Register?
Wayne State University Buildings was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1978.
What type of historic resource is Wayne State University Buildings?
Wayne State University Buildings is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Wayne State University Buildings?
The period of significance for Wayne State University Buildings is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Wayne State University Buildings?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Wayne State University Buildings will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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