Detroit Love
An anonymous donor stepped up recently and paid the entire $142,000 tax bill for Detroit’s Masonic Temple, allowing it to continue under its current ownership. This week, the Masonic Temple revealed that the generous donor was Detroit’s own Jack White, who has played nine concerts at the Masonic Temple in the past.
The anonymous benefactor who recently paid the entire $142,000 balance in taxes to prevent Detroit’s Masonic Temple from falling into foreclosure was revealed Tuesday to be musician Jack White, who played there as a solo artist and with his former band, the White Stripes.In light of White’s gift, the Masonic Temple Association said it would rename the temple’s Cathedral Theater — sometimes known as the Scottish Rite — as the Jack White Theater.
“Jack’s donation could not have come at a better time and we are eternally grateful to him for it,” said Detroit Masonic Temple Association President Roger Sobran. “Jack’s magnanimous generosity and unflinching loyalty to this historic building and his Detroit roots is appreciated beyond words.”
White’s mother was an usher at the Masonic Temple when he was a kid in Detroit and he spent a great deal of time there before starting his career as a musician.
Detroit’s Masonic Temple is the largest Masonic building in the world, according to The Guardian:
Completed in 1926, the Detroit Masonic Temple is the largest Masonic building in the world. Occupying an entire city block, the 14-storey structure incorporates three auditoriums, two ballrooms, seven lodge rooms, bowling lanes and a barber’s shop. The Temple has hosted concerts by acts including the Who, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and Frank Zappa, and was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Thanks, Jack. You’ve done your hometown proud and your love of Detroit is appreciated and returned.
[CC image credit: Pink.up from original photo by Scott Penner | Wikimedia Commons]
