The WJBK-TV Studios Building is a broadcasting building located at 7441 Second Avenue in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2016. It is the only building in Detroit designed by noted Palm Beach, Florida architect John L. Volk. The property is currently owned by Halcor Studio Live LLC.

History

WJBK WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter faciliti ...

began as an AM radio station (now

WLQV WLQV (1500 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Detroit, Michigan. It is owned by the Salem Media Group and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. It uses paid brokered programming where hosts buy time on th ...

) in Detroit. In 1947 the station's television license was awarded by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

to George B. Storer's Fort Industry Broadcasting, the forerunner to Storer Communications.

WJBK-TV WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilitie ...

began broadcasting on Channel 2 in Detroit on October 24, 1948 as a CBS affiliate. It was the third television station to go on the air in Detroit. The station began broadcasting from the Detroit Masonic Temple, but in 1956 Storer commissioned John L. Volk to design this studio. Storer and Volk were friends, and Storer had already commissioned a long string of works from Volk. The building was constructed that year, and WJBK moved its operations here. Multiple shows were produced by Storer in the building, including its newscast, ''Sagebush Shorty'', and ''

Sir Graves Ghastly Sir Graves Ghastly was a character created by Cleveland-born actor Lawson J. Deming (1913–2007) for the popular television show of the same name. Sir Graves was a vampire whose persona, look, and exaggerated laugh ("Nnnnyeah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaa ...

''. However, by 1971, WJBK had outgrown the studio and operations were moved to a newer building on Nine Mile Road in Southfield. The Detroit building was sold to Detroit's public television station

WTVS WTVS (channel 56) is a PBS member television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. Its main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios in Wixom, with an addi ...

, Channel 56, for $750,000. WTVS used it until 2009, when they sold it to

Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit is a youth development 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Detroit, Michigan with a mission is to empower young people to maximize their potential through professional performing arts training and the creation of f ...

. Mosaic used the building until 2014, when it was sold to a developer. In 2022, the former WJBK-TV studios building was purchased, and donated to the nonprofit Midnight Golf Program to become their new headquarters. A $10-12 million reconstruction is planned.

Description

The former WJBK-TV Studios Building is a two-story red brick

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, Ge ...

structure with limestone trim and brick quoins. The front facade has a projecting central section with a limestone-trimmed entry portico with flanked by Ionic columns. Equally spaced aluminum six-over-six double-hung windows run on either side of the entrance, and above on the second floor. Atop that is a tall frieze, classical cornice, and a limestone trimmed pediment with an oval window in the center. The interior of the building is divided into two sections: the office/administrative portion and the studio portion. The office portion contains a long rectangular entrance lobby and waiting room paneled with cypress wood, and a large two story open staircase, with curbed transition between rungs, in the center. The studio portion holds two studio spaces and a control room. The studio space was intended to be divided up, holding different sets in the studio at one time as needed.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Television studios in the United States

History

Description

See also

References