The Michigan Theater in Detroit was once hailed as one of the largest venues in the state. It opened in 1926, costing an astounding $5 million at the time. It served as a concert hall, theater, and movie house with an elaborate interior full of chandeliers, mezzanines, 4,000 seats, and a grand, 4-story high lobby.
The theater was abandoned and partially demolished in 1976, but plans to completely demolish it fell through because it would destabilize the office building next door. Instead, a hole was smashed through the wall in order to let Detroiters to park their cars right inside, under the elaborate roof of the lobby.
Two interesting notes on the grand theater becoming a parking garage: the site once held Henry Ford's first automobile workshop, and one of the original reasons the theater closed was because of a lack of parking. It truly seems that the circle is now complete.
