The Detroit Masonic Temple, the world’s lagest Masonic building located in the heart of the motor city, was staring down the barrel of entering into foreclosure unless it could find the necessary funds to pay a $142,000 outstanding tax bill, but was rescued by an anonymous donor who showed their stripes in more ways than one, footing the bill at the 11th hour, as The Guardian reports.
The mysterious saviour has now revealed to be none other than Detroit-bred musician Jack White. In a news release on Tuesday, Roger Sobran, President of the Detroit Masonic Temple Association revealed that the White Stripe-turned-solo star was the anonymous donor who paid the $142,000 fee. “Jack’s donation could not have come at a better time and we are eternally grateful to him for it,” says Mr Sobran.
“Jack’s magnanimous generosity and unflinching loyalty to this historic building and his Detroit roots is appreciated beyond words,” enthused the Masonic President. In appreciation of his rescue of the live music venue from the tax man, the Association are paying tribute to White by renaming the venue’s nearly 8,500 square metre venue – colloquially known as the Scottish Rite – in the musician’s honour.
“In light of Jack’s generosity and belief in the importance of a strong, vital Temple that should and will be available to future generations of Detroiters, the Masonic Temple Association will be naming, in Jack’s honor, our Cathedral Theater, the ‘Jack White Theater.’”
“We could not be more humbled to bestow this honor on Jack,” Sobran added of the newly minted 1,586 capacity venue – a dedication that comes full circle.
Though he is now based in Nashville, Tennessee along with his Third Man Records studio/record store/novelties lounge, White has a deep connection to the Detroit venue; his mother used to usher at one of the venue’s smaller theaters when White was a young boy growing up in the motor city, the news release noting that White and his mother shared a “profound love for the gothic structure,” of the city block-sized Temple.
Additionally, the Blunderbuss star has also performed nine times at the Masonic Temple, under his solo guise in two concerts last year and seven times previously as part of The White Stripes.
White’s nephew, Ben Blackwell, who works alongside the musician at Third Man Records, explains to the Detroit Free Press the motivations behind the White’s patronage of the Masonic Temple. The first two White Stripes performances at the venue in April 2003 are “what really puts it all in context,” says Blackwell, who is the official White Stripes archivist, noting that the band played their first ever public gig at the Gold Dollar, a now-defunct venue just down the street from the Masonic Temple, opening for the Hentchmen in 1997.
“From the loading docks you could see the Gold Dollar,” says Blackwell. “It took years, four albums and how ever many of tour miles to go that very significant half a block.” The Gothic-inspired complex is hard to miss since its formation in 1926, stretching an entire city block north of downton and towering 14 stories high.
Blackwell also indicated that the Detroit Masonic Temple’s rich rock legacy wasn’t lost on White. Since its formation the structure’s three auditoriums and two ballrooms have hosted concerts from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, and equally legendary Detroit band MC5 – a personal favourite of White’s. “That’s why a venue like this should keep on going. It’s all connected,” remarked Blackwell.
Take a gander at the newly named Jack White Theater below
