7200 Harper Avenue
Frontenac Theatre, Ace Theatre, Deliverance Center, Kingdom Citizens Worship Center, Bethel Deliverance Tabernacle International, Moving In Faith Ministries
The Frontenac Theatre was built in the 1910s. At the time when it was constructed, the neighborhood was expanding at a rapid rate. Although perched on the edge of the highway today, before the area directly behind the theatre was carved up, there were homes and businesses as far as the eye could see.
Detroiters would pass the theatre on the streetcar, by bus, and in their cars. After the highway decimated a part of the neighborhood, traffic wasn’t as heavy anymore. But we’ll get to that later on.
A flyer for the Frontenac Theatre I found on eBay from 1937 gave their slogan: “Where you see bigger and better shows for lower admission prices.” On weekdays and Saturdays before 4 PM, movies were 15 cents. On Saturdays after 4 PM, movies were 20 cents. All day Sunday and on Holidays, movies were 20 cents. Children under 12 were 10 cents at all times. The theatre was open from noon til midnight every day all year long. A matinee would cost you 50 cents for a family of four, and an evening showing would run you 60 cents, or roughly $10.50 and $12.80, respectively, in 2023.
The Frontenac Theatre was operational for under three decades. In 1940, the structure was modernized and resurfaced. Permits had to be pulled, and permission was given for the structure to overtake half an inch of city-owned property. Around this time, the operation was renamed the Ace Theatre. The brick was covered, and a new marquee was added, which remains in place today.
The last adverts for the Ace Theatre that I’ve found are from 1952. I believe that around that time, it closed its doors for good. Although 94 hadn’t been completed yet, the neighborhood was preparing for radical changes, and neighborhood theatres were dying across the city. It was hard for smaller operations to compete with larger, more modern theatres.
After the closure of the Ace Theatre, the water gets murky. At some point, the structure became a church. Over the years, it was home to or owned by the International Deliverance Center, Kingdom Citizens Worship Center, Bethel Deliverance Tabernacle International, and Moving In Faith Ministries. I believe it was still operational as a church as recently as 2015.
Standing at the corner of Frontenac and Harper today, it’s hard to imagine a vibrant neighborhood once existed here. The church on the corner has been demolished, the theatre-turned-church is vacant, and there’s vacant land everywhere. The old Dime Bank Branch has been converted into a church, which I highlighted in another post.
While taking photos of the Frontenac Theatre, the pastor for the church kiddy corner, Pastor Dr. Larry Johnson Sr., came out to speak with me. His aunt grew up in the neighborhood, so he spent time here in his youth. He remembers the old theatre building, the candy store down the street, and all the homes that ran down Frontenac to Strong Street, where the Slovak Home still stands today.
He said he went inside the old theatre when some work was being done to it a few years ago to check it out as it was for sale. He said the interior was stunning, but there was far too much work necessary for him to be interested in moving his congregation there.
I’m not sure I have any faith that this structure will survive. Someday, I’d love to see the interior to know whether any original theatre remains.
This structure is just down the road from the former Arthur/Crane Theatre, which was also turned into a church.
June 2024 Update
In recent months, this structure has received a facelift. It appears to have been secured, and it has a new paint job. Though I’m not a huge fan of the color scheme, someone went out of their way to make it look significantly better than it had for a few years, likely to avoid more blight tickets.
Still, a week and a half ago, a death fence appeared around the outside. Originally the Frontenac Theatre, this 1910s structure that spent around a decade as the Ace Theatre will likely soon be reduced to a pile of rubble, like so many other structures in the neighborhood on Harper.
I don’t understand why this structure was so recently upgraded, only to be demolished a few weeks later. Online records show that a church still owns it, but it might have fallen into foreclosure or was sold, resulting in the impending demolition. Besides the small marquee, the structure doesn’t appear to be a danger to anyone.
October 2024 Update
The demolition fence was removed in October 2024.
