6.19.07
David Coates The Detroit NewsIn recent years, Masonic groups have relocated, and fewer plays and concerts were held at the Masonic Temple.
Ilitch may manage ailing Masonic
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Mike Ilitch could soon expand his sports and entertainment empire to include operating the landmark Detroit Masonic Temple, which is broke and owes more than $226,000 in unpaid taxes and water bills and faces possible foreclosure early next year.
The huge Gothic-style building's owners are negotiating with Ilitch-owned Olympia Entertainment, and Masonic officials hope a deal can be signed later this month to book shows and concerts and manage the largest Masonic temple in the world. The building is included on state and national registers of historic places. The Masonic Temple Association would stil
l own the building.
"It will absolutely, 100 percent never be for sale," association President Bill Betz said. "If the deal goes through, the bills will be paid -- immediately."
Negotiations between the temple and Olympia are continuing, and financial details are not yet public.
A deal would expand an Ilitch sports and entertainment empire and give it a bigger piece of the local concert and performance industry -- and help save an architectural gem. Ilitch, a pizza baron who along with wife Marian owns Little Caesars Pizza, the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, has created a sprawling sports and entertainment district along Woodward, south of I-75, that includes Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre, Hockeytown Cafe and the potential site of a new Joe Louis Arena.
The deal also could generate enough cash for temple owners to pay off delinquent water and sewer bills and unpaid taxes dating to 2005 and keep open a building seen by some as a key to revitalizing the Midtown area.
"It's too important to lose. It's an anchor and such an important piece of real estate in that area," said Francis Grunow, executive director of Preservation Wayne, a historic preservation group.
Olympia and Masonic Temple officials have negotiated for about six months. "We have had talks with representatives of the Masonic Temple but nothing is imminent," Ilitch Holdings spokeswoman Karen Cullen said Monday. (Complete Story)
The huge Gothic-style building's owners are negotiating with Ilitch-owned Olympia Entertainment, and Masonic officials hope a deal can be signed later this month to book shows and concerts and manage the largest Masonic temple in the world. The building is included on state and national registers of historic places. The Masonic Temple Association would stil
l own the building."It will absolutely, 100 percent never be for sale," association President Bill Betz said. "If the deal goes through, the bills will be paid -- immediately."
Negotiations between the temple and Olympia are continuing, and financial details are not yet public.
A deal would expand an Ilitch sports and entertainment empire and give it a bigger piece of the local concert and performance industry -- and help save an architectural gem. Ilitch, a pizza baron who along with wife Marian owns Little Caesars Pizza, the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, has created a sprawling sports and entertainment district along Woodward, south of I-75, that includes Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre, Hockeytown Cafe and the potential site of a new Joe Louis Arena.
The deal also could generate enough cash for temple owners to pay off delinquent water and sewer bills and unpaid taxes dating to 2005 and keep open a building seen by some as a key to revitalizing the Midtown area.
"It's too important to lose. It's an anchor and such an important piece of real estate in that area," said Francis Grunow, executive director of Preservation Wayne, a historic preservation group.
Olympia and Masonic Temple officials have negotiated for about six months. "We have had talks with representatives of the Masonic Temple but nothing is imminent," Ilitch Holdings spokeswoman Karen Cullen said Monday. (Complete Story)
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- Detnews.com: More about the Masonic Temple Theater
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