Farmington Civic Theatre

The historic Farmington Civic Theater is located in downtown Farmington, Michigan. The theater opened in 1940 and is still operating. The Civic is a historical site and annually draws about 75,000 to downtown Farmington.[1]

Farmington Civic Theater
Facade of the Farmington Civic Theater, taken in 2007
Address33332 Grand River Avenue
Farmington, Michigan
United States
Coordinates42.46487°N 83.37607°W / 42.46487; -83.37607
Capacity410
Website
www.thefct.com

History

The (Farmington) Civic Theatre was constructed in 1939/1940 and officially opened in late September 1940. The movie theatre was built on the site of a vacant A&P Supermarket, which was torn down to make way for the new theatre. The property was owned by Louis Rose (Louis Rose Builders-Detroit). He was also primarily responsible for the construction of the new building. The plans called for Associate Theatres Inc. to operate the movie business operations. The company operated a string of movie houses throughout Detroit and Michigan at the time. Edward Hohler became the Manager of the Civic Theatre and stayed on when the business was taken over by Community Theaters in 1943. [2] Hohler, who died in 1989, purchased the business in 1951 and remained manager until his son Gregory took over in 1973. Greg Hohler purchased the theater building from the Louis Rose estate in 1989. He made a number of investments in the theatre until its sale to the City in 1999.. This included closing the theater for the first time in its history for a five-week remodeling. The balcony became the upstairs theater. [3]

In 1999 The City of Farmington bought the Farmington Civic Theater from the Hohler family. The Hohler family had operated the theater since its 1940 opening. Right after purchasing the theater, the City renovated, adding new seating, a new roof and updated the lobby, concessions area, and restrooms.[1]

Now

The Farmington Civic Theater has a blade marquee and facade in shades of red and off-white. The main floor seats 275 while the upper theater seats 132. Seating in the Civic's upper theater is “stadium seating” style auditorium. The theater has daily showings of intermediate and second-run movies.[1]

The theater removed 35mm projectors and older technical equipment in July 2013 and converted to digital projection with Dolby Surround 7.1.

Location

The Civic is located at 33332 Grand River Avenue in Farmington, Michigan.[1] It is just east of the Farmington Road and Grand River Avenue intersection in Downtown Farmington. Surrounding the Civic are over 150 stores, restaurants and shops. It is also located just 10 minutes away from 12 Oaks Mall in Novi, Michigan. The Farmington Civic Theater is less than 30 minutes from Detroit.[1]

References
  1. Official website
  2. The Farmington Enterprise, January 11, 1940
  3. Farmington and Farmington Hills-The Making of America Series, Debra Pawlek, 2003.
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