Charles Nathanial Agree (April 18, 1897 – March 10, 1982) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

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 ...

Biography

Agree moved to Detroit in 1909 at the age of 12. He opened his firm in 1917 after graduating from the Detroit Y.M.C.A. Technical School. His first major commission was in 1921 to build the Whittier Hotel near the bank of the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

. He later went on to design many office buildings, theaters, and ballrooms. Agree was one of the Detroit architects of the 1920s and 1930s who utilized the services of architectural sculptor

Corrado Parducci Corrado Giuseppe Parducci (March 10, 1900 – November 22, 1981) was an Italian-American architectural sculptor who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early-20th century works. Early life and education Parducci was born in Buti, Italy, a ...

. As the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

changed by the 1960s, so did Agree's commissions. He began designing many modern-style malls. In addition to the office in the Book Tower, Agree's firm later opened an office on McNichols Road in Detroit and then a suburban office in

Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

. Several Agree-designed buildings have been plundered by architectural scavengers. These include the Vanity Ballroom, where several Mayan-Deco panels were torn off, and the

Grande Ballroom The Grande Ballroom ( ') is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in the Petosky-Otsego neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and origina ...

, which brought rock band

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

into fame, which has sat empty since closing in 1972.

Agree-designed buildings

:All buildings are located in

, unless otherwise indicated. * Whittier Hotel, 1921–1927 * The Sovereign Apartments (Buffalo, New York), 1923 (with Lewis and Hill Architects of Buffalo, New York) * The Stratford Arms (Buffalo, New York), 1924 (with Lewis and Hill Architects of Buffalo, New York) * Pilgrim and Puritan Apartment Complex, 1924 * Belcrest Apartments (previously Belcrest Hotel), 1926 * Seville Apartment Hotel, 1926 *Hollywood Theater, 1927 (with Graven & Mayger) *

, 1928 * Vanity Ballroom, 1929 *Lincoln Theatre,

Lincoln Park, Michigan Lincoln Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 38,144 at the 2010 census, down from 40,008 at the 2000 census. With a population density of at the 2010 census, Lincoln Park is the second most-densely ...

, 1936 (remodeling) *Westown Theater, 1936 *Beverly Theatre, 1937 *Palmer Park Theatre, 1937 *

Harpos Concert Theatre Harpos Concert Theatre is a music venue located at 14238 Harper Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is known as a venue for heavy metal and industrial rock. History It was built in 1939 for the Wisper and Westman circuit as the ''Harpe ...

, 1939 *Royal Theatre, 1940 *Trans-Lux Krim, 1941 *Showcase Cinemas Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan, 1941 *Duke Theatre,

Oak Park, Michigan Oak Park is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population of Oak Park was 29,560. As a northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Oak Park shares its southern border with the city of Detroit. History This ...

, named after Duke Ellington, 1941–1947 *Park Theatre, Lincoln Park, Michigan, 1942 (remodeling) *Nadell Furs Building, 1944 *Woods 6 Theater, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, 1948 *

Southgate Shopping Center Southgate Shopping Center is a shopping center located at the southeast corner of Eureka and Trenton Roads in Southgate, Michigan. Completed by 1958, it was one of the first major strip malls in the southern Detroit suburbs until the nearby S ...

Southgate, Michigan Southgate is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 30,047 at the 2020 census. Southgate was incorporated as a city in October 1958, which was one of the last remaining portions of the now-defunct Ecorse Tow ...

, 1957 *Flint Tavern Hotel, Flint, Michigan *Highland Lodge Apartment Building, Stamford, Connecticut *

Detroit Zoo The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in Royal Oak, Michigan, spanning 125 acres and housing more than 2,000 animals and more than 245 different species. It was the first U.S. zoo to feature bar-less habitats, and is regarded to be an international ...

Holden Reptile House, Royal Oak, Michigan The Mall a.k.a The Pontiac Mall [Waterford Township, Michigan] 1962 *Jewish Community Center, West Bloomfield, Michigan *Oakland Mall, Troy, Michigan 1968 *Panama City Mall, Panama City, Florida *Trenton Village Theatre, Trenton, Michigan *Wabeek Building, Birmingham, Michigan (this is credited to Agree, but all records indicate it was designed by Albert Kahn (architect), Albert Kahn in 1928) *Wilshire Residential Hotel

References

* Charles N. Agree, ''Buffalo As An Architectural Museum''
link

Biography

Agree-designed buildings

References

Further reading