History
The auditorium was financed by the Ford Motor Company and contributions of the Ford affiliated dealers in the U.S. Ford gave its approval when the city planned to remove the building as part of the waterfront redesign plans. The project received such a large donation from the Ford family, it was designed as a memorial to Henry and Edsel Ford. When the auditorium opened, it became home for the DSO and hosted conventions, pop concerts, theatrical productions and speeches. The building had outlived its usefulness to the city and was replaced by other facilities. The building acoustics were also not considered satisfactory.
The building was designed by the firm of Odell, Hewlett and Luckenbach in the modern style. It is situated at the base of a U-shaped drive named Auditorium Drive. Beneath the drive and adjacent landscaped areas is a two-level parking garage containing 750-spaces. The garage is accessed via ramps in the median of Jefferson Avenue and has a pedestrian entrance which provides direct access to the lower-level lounge of the auditorium.
The exterior shape of the building follows the form of its interior spaces with backstage and audience areas clearly visible. The sides of the building are clad in white marble to harmonize with the other buildings in the Civic Center Complex- the City-County Building, Veterans Memorial Building and Cobo Hall and Arena. The Jefferson Avenue and river facades are covered with a mica-flecked blue granite in a basket-weave pattern.
In the curved foyer of the main level were three sculptures by local artist Marshall Fredericks. On the curved wall above the main entrance is a 120-foot mural made of steel, copper and aluminum wire entitled Ford Empire which depicts the Ford Rouge Complex. Above the stairs to the balcony at the east end of the lobby was a piece entitled Harlequins, Ballerina and Orchestral Parade and above the west stairs was another piece entitled Harlequins and Circus Parade. The Ford Empire mural was moved to storage in 2003 and in 2007, the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University negotiated with the City of Detroit to have the two smaller pieces moved there.
On February 14, 1965, the auditorium served as a historical stage for Malcolm X to deliver his last speech outside of New York before his death. He delivered his "Last Message" at the First Annual Dignity Projection and Scholarship Awards ceremony despite the firebombing of his Queens, New York home by the Nation of Islam that morning.
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