Detroit's Time Gone By

I mean anyone can imagine finding a hidden travel gem in London, Paris, or Rome, right? Imagine eating a baguette and sipping Chardonnay at a secluded Paris café. Now, picture yourself riding a Vespa down a charming unchartered Roman backstreet. Have you ever had any of those dreams? I have. But now, think of Detroit. Yes, that’s right – Detroit, Michigan. You know the city famous for abandoned buildings and urban decay. That’s the one. Well, that’s exactly where I found my gem.
If you have ever watched the cancelled HBO series “Hung”, you may have even seen my hidden gem. It was in an episode where the main character, a high school teacher moonlighting as a prostitute, takes his teenage children to see a classic horror flick at the Redford Theatre. The Redford Theatre located on the outskirts of Detroit has been in continuous operation ever since it opened on January 27, 1928. That fact, in and of itself, is quite remarkable when you consider numerous famous abandoned buildings in Detroit. So then, what makes this movie theater so special besides it being eighty-seven years old and still in use? Well, I could tell you that the theater has been accepted into the National Register of Historic Places, which it has. Or, I could tell you that when it first opened it was referred to as “America’s Most Unusual Suburban Playhouse”, which it was. I might even tell you that the theater was designed in an exotic revival style with Japanese motifs and seats 1,571, which it does. However, there remains another unique quality that more than likely saved the theater from extinction, and that is, the original 3 manual 10 rank Barton theater organ also still in use. Because of this organ, the Motor City Theatre Organ Society bought the Redford and continues to present concerts and organ accompaniments whenever silent movies are shown.
For me though, the Redford is not so much a special place as it is a special experience. It ushers me into a world of time gone by. It is a time reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour and of a world resembling Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”. As I sit in the balcony and watch old classic movies, which I might add are chosen by the public, I am transported to a simpler era. It is a time when all seemed well in Detroit as in the rest of the world. It is a hidden gem, an oasis of nostalgia, within a city in transition.