WDET News
- Fisher Building Turns 80
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Nov 11, 2008General
A landmark building in the Detroit skyline turns 80-years-old this week.
The anchor of Detroit’s New Center area – the Fisher Building opened its doors officially on November 11th, 1928. An event at the Fisher Theatre took place that day as part of the opening festivities.
Allen Lichtenstein is with the Nederlander Organization. He says Detroit’s theatrical family found success inside the New Center landmark launched their empire.
“They expanded to Broadway in which now they own 9 theaters on Broadway, 3 theaters in London, 5 theaters in San Francisco, 3 in Chicago, L.A. So, from that historical point of view, the Fisher Building was the launching pad for the largest theatrical empire in the country.”
As the Fisher Building was a wonder in its day, earning prizes from esteemed architectural organizations. Steven Whitney is the President of Albert Kahn and Associates. He says the building created by the company’s namesake continues to inspire new generations of architects.
“Back in 2000, the architects in Detroit that are members of the American Institute of Architects, voted on which buildings were the buildings of the century and the Fisher Building won.”
Whitney says the grand scale of the Fisher Building is small compared to the original plans. The building Detroiters know today is less than a third of the total blueprint. The Fisher Building was to include another tower the same size the current skyscraper along with a center tower over 50-stories tall. But the project was reduced following bad news on Wall Street in the late 1920s which culminated in the 1929 stock market crash.
Whitney and Lichtenstein appeared on WDET’s “Detroit Today”.