The Columbia Theatre represented a number of firsts in Detroit theater history. Though it wasn’t the first vaudeville house built on Monroe Avenue, it was the first major theater in Detroit to show motion pictures; the first major movie house owned by theater moguls John Kunsky and A. Arthur Callie; the first theater in Detroit to house a pipe organ; and the first major theater of many to be designed by renowned architect C. Howard Crane.
The idea for the theater began in early 1910, when Crane "was preparing to retire about midnight" when "he received a telephone summons to slip on something and hasten downtown," The Detroit News reported Feb. 12, 1911. There, where he was met by Kunsky and Callie, who led him down an alleyway to a site near the Bagley Livery horse stables, where they planned to erect the Columbia Theatre.
Frontage along Monroe Avenue was expensive, given that it was the city’s main entertainment district, and theaters took up a lot of real estate. The solution was to put the Columbia’s entrance along Monroe and the auditorium on cheaper land behind it. However, there was the challenge of getting people from Monroe, across the alley and into the theater. Thus, the “alley jumper” concept was utilized, in which the Columbia’s entrance and lobby was built along Monroe Avenue, and stairs would take patrons up and over the alley and into the auditorium’s mezzanine. This resulted in the Columbia’s lobby being 125 feet long. The Columbia would be the first of three alley jumper theaters in Detroit, with the Palace (1914) and Adams (1917) theaters — both also designed by Crane — being the others.
It would not be an easy deal to put together, with land negotiations and delays stretching for more than two years. The men secured a 12-year lease from the Palms estate at a cost of $12,000 a year, or $400,000 a year in 2025 valuation, when adjusted for inflation. The Free Press announced Jan. 22, 1911, that the deal was done, resulting in "a moving picture and vaudeville theater that will be the biggest and finest of its kind in the city and one of the finest in the country."
Kunsky and Callie’s Casino Theater Co. already owned several other nickelodeons at this point, including the Majestic, Casino and Royale theaters, the latter two also being on Monroe Avenue. However, this was their first theater to branch out away from nickelodeons and into vaudeville and motion pictures. Thus, they formed a new company for their new venture, Columbia Theatre Inc.
Demolition to make way for the theater began around May 1, 1911, as that is when preset leases expired for the tenants of the current buildings. The general contractor for building the theater was Hoffman & Farrington Construction Co. of Pittsburgh. The cost of the theater was estimated at between $75,000 and $90,000, or about $2.5 million to $3 million in 2025 valuation. The auditorium's "peculiar location in the heart of a business block" made it "practically invisible," despite being one of the largest theaters in the city, The Detroit News marveled Sept. 29, 1911. Being that the auditorium was surrounded on all four sides by alleys, the Columbia also was the only theater in the country at the time that had exits on all sides, The Detroit News noted Sept. 17, 1911.
The theater opened Oct. 2, 1911 — just five months after construction started — with a 7 p.m. showing of “Dance of the Daggers” and “The Lily Girl.” Originally, it had been planned to open at noon, but was delayed due to the late arrival of the stage’s asbestos curtain. Also, the pipe organ — a $15,000, two-manual, 18-rank Hilgreen-Lane model — was still being installed. It was completed a few days later. Despite that, the theater was still met with a good reception, with The News reporting the next day that "it was an appreciative audience which witnessed the first bill."
The News added Oct. 8, 1911, that "making the new Columbia Theatre the talk of the town ... has been well accomplished" thanks to "a bill of exceptionally good features and a theater which is of itself a unique attraction causing the amusement-seeking public to take notice. Sensational vaudeville was announced for the opening, and the promise of the advance notices was lived up to." The paper noted that the Columbia offered a "high-class aggregation of vaudeville artists (offering) music, miurth and drama." Its first month of programming also included the Azuma Japanese Troupe, the Great Eldon & Co. band of illusionists and Bryant & Saville - "the Musical Blue Jays" - known for exquisite vaudeville performances.
The theater was rather ornate, as the lobby had a high-vaulted ceiling with chandeliers, a mosaic tile floor, and gilded details on the walls. The auditorium was ornate for the time, however, was quite simple in comparison to Crane’s later movie palaces, such as the United Artists or Fox theaters. The film chain promised "clean, wholesome amusement at all our playhouses."
On opening day, the theater was advertised as having a capacity of 3,000, with 1,500 seats in the auditorium and room for another 1,500 guests waiting in the lobby. Later advertisements also list the theater as having 1,500 seats, though it's generally considered that the number was actually 1,006 seats.
On May 23, 1922, the theater changed its policy and began presenting eight vaudeville acts and motion picture films on the same bill.
In 1927, the Columbia’s Hilgreen-Lane organ was replaced with a two-manual, three-rank Wurlitzer organ.
In late 1928, Kunsky and then-partner George W. Trendle decided to sell off their 20 Detroit theaters in order to get into a new form of entertainment: radio. They found a buyer for their entertainment empire in Paramount-Publix, which paid them $7.5 million, or about $142 million in 2025 valuation, when adjusted for inflation. At the time, the Paramount-Publix chain was aggressively acquiring theaters in the Midwest and New England in order to grow its movie theater holdings. Trendle’s biography reports that he negotiated a cash buyout of the theater chain, instead of being paid with Paramount stock, which was the standard way that Paramount would buy out theater owners. It was a smart move, as Paramount's stock price plummeted months later after the stock market crash in October 1929.
On Aug. 29, 1929, it was announced that 120 feet of Monroe Avenue, including the Columbia, Frontenac Hotel and two other storefronts, were bought by the Wardell Realty Co. for an estimated $1.5 million (the equivalent of about $28.4 million in 2025), though this was an estimate, as the exact amount was not made public. Wardell was run by Fred Wardell, president of the Eureka Vacuum Cleaner Co., and his developments included what is now called the Park Shelton.
On Aug. 22, 1932, the Columbia reopened as a burlesque house under the management of Jim Bennett. However, potentially as the result of a lawsuit from Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy, by 1933, the theater had switched back to showing motion pictures. Murphy felt what was being shown at these burlesque houses was too obscene, and sought to revoke the license of the Columbia and Avenue theaters, and block the renewal of the license for the National Theatre.
"Just how many veils are needed before the aesthetic becomes too transparent? How coy may a burlesque theater chorus girl become? What jokes belong into smoking rooms and which on stage?” the Free Press reported Nov. 15, 1932. “The managers of the Avenue, Columbia and National theaters have been summoned to tell the mayor just what goes on - and comes off - in their theaters. They also are expected to relate how bad the times are and what must be done these evil days to keep their patrons interested."
The matter was seemingly resolved just a few days later, when the Free Press reported Nov. 18, 1932, that "blonds may shimmy, but the comedians must be careful." Murphy decreed that a dancer would have to be a bit more restrained and "perhaps end her dance with a little more clothing than was customary," the paper said, but comedians were ordered to clean up their routines or "more drastic steps would be taken."
"Dancing, the lack of clothing and that sort of thing may be in bad taste," Murphy said. "But it is not the serious offense. It is chiefly in the dialog, which, to my mind, is revolting, offensive and without excuse."
The Columbia was also remodeled twice, in 1933 and 1936, with the second remodel adding new decorations, seating, equipment and enlarging the entrance.
Sometime in the 1940s, the theater started catering towards African-American patrons with films starring Black performers. In 1950, the theater switched back to burlesque, and was now operated by Saul Korman, who also operated the Booker T. and Castle theaters, both of which catered toward African-American patrons. It did not last long as a burlesque house, and switched back to movies soon after, this time showing low-budget exploitation films.
Though the Columbia Theatre paved the way for many of the movie palaces that came after, its last newspaper advertisement appears to have run Feb. 14, 1952, for the film “She Shoulda Said No.” Despite some writings claiming the theater didn’t close until 1956, no evidence can be located to show that it operated after 1952.
The theater was demolished in October 1957, though documents pertaining to the 1985 redevelopment of the Monroe Block said only the auditorium was demolished, and the lobby was reduced to a two-story building, which was in turn torn down on either Jan. 6 or 7, 1990.
During an attempted redevelopment of the Monroe Block in 1985, the supposed foyer of the old theater was found in the basement, though in reality, what was found was the remains of the basement restaurant the Cafe Frontenac.
HistoricDetroit.org's Dan Austin contributed to this report.