Temple Beth-El (Bonstelle Theatre)

Infobox_nrhp | name =Temple Beth-El
nrhp_type =

---

caption = Facade from Woodward
location= Detroit, Michigan
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 20
lat_seconds = 45.92
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 83
long_minutes = 3
long_seconds = 24.86
long_direction = W
locmapin = Michigan
area =
built =1902
architect= Albert Kahn; C. Howard Crane
architecture= Beaux Arts
added = August 03, 1982
governing_body = Private
mpsub=Religious Structures of Woodward Ave. TR
refnum=82002911cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Bonstelle Theatre is the undergraduate theater used by Wayne State University, and is located at 3424 Woodward Avenue (the southeast corner of Woodward and Eliot). [http://detroit1701.org/Temple%20Beth%20El.html Temple Beth-El] from Detroit 1701.org.] It was originally built in 1902 as the Temple Beth-El.

Construction

When Rabbi Leo M. Franklin first began leading services of Detroit's Temple Beth El in 1899, he felt that the construction of a new temple building on Detroit's "Piety Row" stretch of Woodward would increase the visibility and prestige on Detroit's Jewish community. Accordingly, in October 0f 1900, the congregation held a special meeting at which it was decided to build a new temple.Katz, Irving I., "The Beth El Story (with a History of Jews in Michigan Before 1850)," Wayne State University Press, 1955, pp. 96-101.] A site for the new temple was purchased in April of the next year, and Albert Kahn, a member of the congregation, was hired to design the building. Groundbreaking began on November 25, 1901, with the ceremonial cornerstone laid on April 23, 1902. The first services were held in the chapel on January 24, 1903, and the formal dedication was held on September 18-19 of the same year.

Building

The temple is a Beaux-Arts structure influenced primarily by Roman and Greek temples. There is a prominent dome over the main area of the temple, with gabled wings on the north and south. A pedimented extension on the front once extended into a porch; the front section of the building was lost when Woodward was widened.

Later use

When the Temple Beth El congregation built another building farther north along Woodward in 1922, they sold the building at Woodward and Eliot to Jessie Bonstelle fro $500,000. [http://www.media.wayne.edu/release.php?id=197 Press release] from Wayne State University celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Bostelle Theatre.] Bonstelle hired architect C. Howard Crane to convert the building into a theater, naming the resulting building the Bonstelle Playhouse. In 1928, the Bonstelle Playhouse became the Detroit Civic Theatre, and in the 1930s became the Mayfair Motion Picture Theater. In 1951, Wayne State University rented the building as a performance space for its theater company, and purchased it outright in 1956, renaming it the Bonstelle Theatre in honor of Jessie Bonstelle.

Notes

References and further reading

*Cite book | author=Sobocinski, Melanie Grunow | title= Detroit and Rome: building on the past | publisher=Regents of the University of Michigan| year=2005 | id=ISBN 0933691092

External links

* [http://www.theatre.wayne.edu/bonstelle.php Bonstelle Theatre - Wayne State University]