On September 1, 1999, the City of Farmington purchased the Farmington Civic Theatre from the Hohler family, who had operated it for more than 59 years. The City immediately invested in renovations, adding new seating, an elevator for handicapped access and a new roof, and updating the lobby, concessions area and restrooms. The purchase and renovations were financed through the sale of revenue bonds and required no taxpayer funds.
At the time of the purchase, then Farmington Mayor, Mary Bush said, “The Civic Theatre is very important to Farmington because it is one of the prime attractions to the downtown area. It's important to underscore the key position the theatre physically occupies in downtown Farmington as well as its entertainment value. In fact, this point was clearly brought out by Farmington citizens during the City Visioning process and verified by several downtown studies.”
In 1999, former Farmington City Manager Frank J. Lauhoff said, “By operating the Civic Theatre as a family entertainment venue, we expect the theatre will operate at the break-even point. And, after an initial start-up period, we expect that ongoing theater revenue will pay for management, modernization and debt repayment.” |
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Today, the Farmington Civic Theatre is a multipurpose conference facility, located in the heart of Farmington's friendly, downtown atmosphere. It continues to serve its purpose, annually bringing between 75,000 – 80,000 people to downtown Farmington.
Designed by C. Howard Crane in Art Modern style, the theater has an elegant blade marquee and facade, in shades of red and off-white. The large, main floor theatre seats 275 in comfortable, first-class, theatre style. Seating 135 in roomy, comfortable seats, the upper level theatre and meeting area provides a “stadium seating” style auditorium. It is an excellent facility for team meetings, sales meetings, shareholder meetings, lectures, presentations and informal group gatherings.
The Civic boasts excellent sound systems, retractable movie screens and theatrical lighting. It is situated close to the Farmington Hills Twelve Mile Road/Orchard Lake Road business corridor, within easy access to I-696, I-96, I-275 and M-5. A selection of first-class, full-service hotels are located nearby and parking is free.
Contact the Office of the City Manager, City of Farmington, 248.474.5500 for rental information and
a tour. |
