  Mattric43 Member Username: Mattric43 Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.15.7.70 |
I had a great uncle that I was told used to go here and dance. Unfortunately this is all I know of the place. I have seen the outside in person and also in pictures, but never seen the inside. Past or present. If anyone has any pics or information, please please share. Thanks guys. -Matt- | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3341 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Matt, welcome to The Forum. VANITY BALLROOM. 1024 NEWPORT AVE., DETROIT. Charles N. Agree, Architect. Built: 1929. An art deco beaudy, with influences from Aztec and Toltec native peoples. It was very active during the Depression and through the WW II eras. Some of the bands playing here were Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. It was an Eastside icon in its day. Imagine all of the stores open along both E. Jefferson and Newport. The ballroom with its spring floor was upstairs with the dancers looking out the windows. The snack bar was ledgendary. jjaba. | ||
Pam Member Username: Pam Post Number: 130 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 67.107.47.65 |
I believe the Vanity hosted a few rock shows for a time in the early 80's. Never made it there but heard about it. | ||
Mattric43 Member Username: Mattric43 Post Number: 2 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.15.7.70 |
Thanks jjaba for the warm welcome. That building just intrigues me because there is little about it. Do you know of where I can find picture of the inside, Both, in it's hayday and present? -Matt- | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3344 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Matt, research it on this Forum. There's been previous discussion, big time. Thanks and welcome. jjaba, Westsider. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 562 Registered: 07-2004 Posted From: 209.69.221.253 |
I recall that the Vanity had some rock shows back around 86 or 87. A friend told me that the guy who was in charge of the place had a problem with some metering equipment on the boiler -- a part that could have been cheaply replaced. Instead, the guy bypassed it. That was fine until the boiler overheated. (My buddy told me it was "glowing cherry red," but I find that hard to believe.) So the boiler had to be shut down and the water had to be shut off. The guy was reduced to going to the bathroom in a tub of cat litter. ("What, you got a freakin' mountain lion in here?) Hearsay, but a funny story nonetheless. After a boiler goes, an already-small market for a building grows even smaller. Although some rock promoters did give new life to old Detroit theaters (Majestic is a good example) many of them were ragtag types and borderline criminals who ran them into the ground. Calls to mind the sad decline of Graystone Hall on Michigan Avenue in the late 80s. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1208 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 140.244.107.151 |
Or Google it!! Here are a few links: http://www.thegrandeballroom.c om/charlesagreebuildings.html http://www.detroit1701.org/Van ityBallroom.htm http://info.detnews.com/histor y/story/index.cfm?id=6&categor y=life | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 938 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.40.6 |
 wsu/vmc | ||
Mattric43 Member Username: Mattric43 Post Number: 3 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.15.7.70 |
Thank you Kathleen the last link has a great picture of the inside ballroom when it was still alive. Nice Hornwrecker, I have never seen a pic of the sign. Does anyone know who currently owns the building? -Matt- | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 115 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 129.9.163.106 |
Detroitnerd: your statement "Although some rock promoters did give new life to old Detroit theaters (Majestic is a good example) many of them were ragtag types and borderline criminals who ran them into the ground" is so accurate, and true, and very well said. My opinion of all of this stems from the crooks who trashed the Michigan, and others. The kid (name witheld) who ran concerts in the Grand Circus in the early 80's--same thing. I think it's actually better that the concert promotion business is being conducted by bigger business (a sharp contrast to my feelings about big business killing all of the little guys in everything else) rather than the borderline criminals you so aptly ID'ed. | ||
Mattric43 Member Username: Mattric43 Post Number: 5 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.15.7.70 |
Does anyone know who currently owns the Vanity Ballroom? -Matt- | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 563 Registered: 07-2004 Posted From: 209.69.221.253 |
Thanks, 56packman. It kind of wounds my pride to admit how bad some of these promoters were. After all, if small operators hadn't been able to put on shows, where would I have hung out? I knew them and patronized their businesses, such as they were. But the do-it-yourself sensibility, while thrilling and liberating, can often end in destroy-it-yourself businesses. Too bad they have so often taken their toll on architectural prizes like the Vanity. Matt: Usually the property database is up on the city Web site, but I can't find it today. | ||
Mattric43 Member Username: Mattric43 Post Number: 6 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.15.7.70 |
Thanks Detroitnerd. Has anyone been in this place recently? Has it held up or decayed. Was it just the boiler? -Matt- | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 564 Registered: 07-2004 Posted From: 209.69.221.253 |
Matt, I found the property database, but I couldn't find any property info for 1024 Newport. I know that, for a long time, the place was owned by city council hopeful Leroy Burgess. If you're really interested in learning more about the building, try to reach Chris Garland at the East Jefferson Business Association. There was a story in Metro Times a few months ago where he talked about the Vanity in detail. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 576 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.220.142.7 |
Went to several jazz concerts/dances at the Vanity, early 1980s. "Stunning" describes the interior...felt like I was in the 1920s and that felt good. JC Heard's orch played at one event and the sound was great. Detroit had at least 10 ballrooms back then...Graystone was the Crown Jewell. | ||
Mattric43 Member Username: Mattric43 Post Number: 7 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 12.15.7.70 |
I just spoke with Rosemary Burgess with Burgess Realty, They still own the building. They are currently taking bids on renovating it and plan on it definatly opening within the next year or two. Thanks guys and girls for all of your info. -Matt- | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1209 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 140.244.107.151 |
I think this is the Metro Times article that Detroitnerd mentioned... http://www.metrotimes.com/edit orial/story.asp?id=8670 | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 417 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.248.5.189 |
So that article was over a year ago and it said that the Vanity would be fixed up by now... | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 1795 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 66.2.148.50 |
The article was in December 2005...The WCPO gives folks a window of time to fix the properties...But given the track record of Burgess Realty, I'd expect to see the Vanity on the WCPO Auction list late this year. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 942 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.251 |
Someone mentioned the Graystone earlier, and happened to find an interior shot while looking for the Vanity sign one.  wsu/vmc | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 577 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
Graystone could hold about 4,000 people...strictly segregated xcept Mondays when it was available for rent. Every nite was themed: Waltz nite, Foxtrot nite, Free dance lessons...7 nites a week. Was originally a Chinese restaurant or a ballroom, depending upon who you believe. Also had the Graystone Gardens immediately adjacent to the ballroom, the "last word in outdoor ballroom construction" opened June 1928. | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 1797 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 66.2.148.61 |
Wow. how nice of Berry Gordy to tear it down so that a McDonalds could be built there 20 years later. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3358 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Barry Gordy probably didn't like Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, and Duke Ellington competing with his Motown sound. Totally wrong. jjaba. | ||
Bertz Member Username: Bertz Post Number: 536 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.61.15.89 |
It still amazes me to this day of what a beautiful city Detroit used to be. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3366 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
90,000 vacant lots. 45,000 tax-roll abandoned parcels. Beaudy is in the eye of the beholder. There is much still here, it just needs to be fixed up. The Vanity is still relatively intact, but finding its economic viability might be a real challenge. jjaba. | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 545 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 69.212.169.194 |
The Graystone Hall I remember on Michigan in the 1980s didnt look like the picture above. It seemed more like an indoor basketball court turned into a concert venue. Black Flag played their last ever show there in 1986. Russ Gibb's kids filmed the whole thing... I wonder where those tapes are. After that, when Gone came into town in 1987, the promoter forgot to do such things as advertise, and the Gone audience was exactly 7 people, including me. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 579 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 152.163.100.8 |
Think those are two different venues, East_detroit. Ballroom was at 4235 Woodward. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 944 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.194 |
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Leob Member Username: Leob Post Number: 33 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 24.192.32.249 |
The Vanity Ballroom (1929) was the "sister" ballroom to Russ Gibb's Grande Ballroom (1928). Both Charles Agree designs. www.thegrandeballroom.com | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 580 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
 believe this is from 1935, Don Redman v. Casa Loma Orchestra. Redman was Music Director of McKinney's Cotton Pickers, cutting-edge Det big band, prior to forming his own ork in 1931. Casa Loma started in Det under the direction of Hank Biagini, violinist and former Ford used car salesman. Both McKinney's and Biagini were regs at the Graystone (and managed by Jean Goldkette's org) | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 946 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.162 |
An article about jazz at the Graystone Ballroom: Stompin' at the Graystone The photos on this site a quite small, so I enlarged a few shots, even though the quality isn't too great.    | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 565 Registered: 07-2004 Posted From: 209.69.221.253 |
Yeah, Graystone Ballroom was totally different from Graystone Hall. Graystone Hall was at 7816 Michigan Ave. Now it has become a laundermat. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 581 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
 Graystone house organ...Fletcher Henderson was comin to town, better than Santy Claus... |
