Worldwide Entertainment-Michigan, Worldwide's local arm, has purchased the theatre and its liquor license from Nobody In Particular Presents. Neither Worldwide talent buyer Bobby Reynolds nor NIPP lawyer Kelly Allen would reveal the purchase price, but both confirm the transaction.
Worldwide had been the co-promoter at the theater and recently filed suit in Oakland County Circuit Court demanding that its partner adhere to an option that allowed Worldwide to purchase the facility if certain operating conditions were not met.
The lawsuit claims Worldwide Entertainment had loaned more than $126,000 to the theater operators this year, operators refused to surrender box-office receipts and repay about $38,000. In an interview with GlobeSt.com, Reynolds declined to provide details on the settlement.
In April, several shows were cancelled after the theater failed to meet a city requirement that a new fire sprinkler be installed. The city made the demand in reaction to the deadly nightclub fire in Rhode Island more than a year ago.
Reynolds says Todd Rundgren--one of the concerts that was cancelled on short notice in April--would re-open the venue with a June 5 performance.
Reynolds says Worldwide was having the sprinkler system installed and, in the future, plans a few upgrades.
"We might put in some new seating on the upper level and a few small things, but the building is sound. Its in good shape," he says.
The circa 1920s theater, which traces its origins back to a silent movie house, was closed for a couple of years after a series fights in the late 1990s. At one point, police raided an illegal gambling party there. The theater changed hands several times in the late 1990s.
The theater reopened to much fanfare last fall and featured concerts by Alice Cooper, Duran Duran and others. But the city demanded the sprinkler system be installed--the city was threatening to pull the venue's liquor license by April 30 if the sprinklers weren't installed by then.
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