16 | OCTOBER 7 • 2021 

er-turned-hotel that had stood 
crumbling for almost 40 years.
Similar to the David 
Whitney Building, the 
Bonstelle Theatre is listed on 
Detroit’s National Register of 
Historic Places. “Just like when 
it was a synagogue, it’s going to 
be this beautiful palette of col-
ors and patterns,” Fox says of 
the restoration plans. “This his-
tory will all be brought back.”

THE TEMPLE’S EARLY DAYS
In 1902, when Temple Beth El 
was first constructed, the Beth 
El congregation was Michigan’s 
largest at the time. Known 
as the Beth El Society, it was 
founded in 1850 by Detroit’s 
Jewish residents, also making it 
the oldest Jewish congregation 

in the state.
Yet after moving to several 
locations, the society — which 
included Kahn — needed a 
permanent home. They turned 
to the architect, who designed 
some of Detroit’s most iconic 
structures, to create the tem-
ple. Temple Beth El pulled 
inspiration from Roman and 
Greek architecture, and its 
cornerstone was laid on April 
23, 1902. Seven months later, it 
was completed.
By early 1903, the first 
services were held just a few 
weeks after the new year. A 
well-situated location on the 
busy and budding Woodward 
Avenue helped the temple grow 
to more than 400 members by 
1910.

As the congregation con-
tinued to increase in num-
ber, Temple Beth El couldn’t 
accommodate the rise in 
members. Instead, it moved to 
another building, also designed 
by Kahn, further north on 
Woodward Avenue in the 
Boston-Edison neighborhood. 
This meant the original Temple 
Beth El was now up for grabs 
and in need of a new owner.

BECOMING THE 
BONSTELLE
Sold to Bonstelle in 1924 for 
a reported $500,000, Temple 
Beth El was transformed 
into a center for performing 
arts. Renamed the Bonstelle 
Playhouse, the theater needed 
a heavy redesign to accommo-

date its new role.
Pews were turned into the-
ater seats, while the skylight 
and surrounding plaster design 
were covered with a false ceil-
ing. Classrooms were trans-
formed into the main stage. 
Yet, the theater quickly ran 
into trouble and unable to get 
off the ground due to financial 
issues, it was reorganized into 
the Detroit Civic Theatre in 
1928.
The subsequent stock market 
crash and Great Depression 
in 1929 made it difficult for 
the theater to stay afloat. Like 
many other venues, it didn’t 
survive the economic crisis. 
In 1933, it was shuttered and 
remained free of theater per-
formances for nearly 20 years, 
briefly serving as a movie 
house during the mid-to-late 
1930s and throughout the 
1940s.
After World War II ended, 
Wayne State University’s 
theater department was in 
search of a permanent home 
to accommodate a significant 
increase in student enrollment. 
In 1951, the university’s theater 
department proposed renting 
and eventually purchasing the 
former Bonstelle Playhouse.
The deal was completed. In 
1963, the former temple was 
officially named the Bonstelle 
Theatre. It became a home for 
Wayne State students and local 
and small touring performanc-
es. Many decades later, it even 
hosted a musical about Temple 
Beth El in 2000 to celebrate the 
congregation’s 150th anniver-
sary.

RESTORING ITS GLORY
In 2018, when Wayne State 
decommissioned the Bonstelle 
Theatre, the Roxbury Group 
saw a chance for redevelop-
ment and restoration. 
 They secured control of the 
site that same year, collaborat-
ing with professional theater 
and music operators to develop 

“JUST LIKE WHEN IT WAS A SYNAGOGUE, IT’S GOING 
TO BE THIS BEAUTIFUL PALETTE OF COLORS AND 

PATTERNS. THIS HISTORY WILL ALL BE BROUGHT BACK.”

— THE ROXBURY GROUP’S STACY FOX

OUR COMMUNITY

continued from page 15

1902 PHOTO COURTESY OF DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY

Temple Beth El as it 
looked circa 1902

