Detroit sues owner of historic Michigan Theatre building for violating vandalism laws

DETROIT (WXYZ) — The owner of the historic Michigan Theatre, the same building where Eminem’s hit “8 Mile” was filmed, is facing a lawsuit from the city of Detroit.

In the lawsuit, the city claims the building, located at 220 Bagley Street, has fallen into disrepair due to numerous neglect issues, including one that officials say poses a threat to public safety.

“I saw rocks falling off that building,” said Tony Gardner, who lives in the area. “And the way they hit the ground, it could really hurt or kill someone, technically.”

The falling debris is just one of many acts of negligence cited by the city of Detroit in a lawsuit filed in May.

According to the lawsuit, numerous emergency orders had previously been issued in connection with public complaints about rocks falling from the building.

City Attorney Conrad Mallet says Detroit’s era of lawlessness is over.

“The Michigan Theatre building — 220 Bagley — has 58 violations for pollution,” he said. “Five of them are for hazardous conditions — two of them actually say we’re in imminent danger, and the danger is so great that we want to completely close the building to all outsiders.”

The building is historic for many reasons. Part of the building was once a theater before being converted into a parking lot, where events and movies like “8 Mile” were filmed.

The building currently houses a company on the sixth floor and can still be used for events.

The current owner of the site is businessman Dennis Keffalinos. The city says Keffalinos has a history of pollution violations at multiple properties he owns.

“I can’t point to any Dennis Keffalinos redevelopment project,” Mallet said.

However, according to Keffalinos’s spokesman, the city authorities are doing the wrong thing.

“The truth is, a lot of the buildings that he (Keffalinos) owns in the city were bought in a rundown condition,” said Niko Matasmakis. “And he was just putting money into them, trying to restore power to those buildings, trying to restore the structural integrity of the buildings and just trying to maintain and preserve the historic architecture in the city of Detroit.”

Matasmakis says Keffalios does not deny that the falling debris poses a threat to public safety and that work is underway to repair it, but that there is otherwise nothing wrong with the building.

Officials say they still believe the building does not meet city ordinance requirements.

“As long as we have available resources, we will do everything we can to enforce our orders,” Mallet said.