May 9, 2014 --

If Wayne State University can raise the $40-million-plus it needs, the school's Hilberry Theatre will gain a significant new performance arts space on Cass Avenue in Detroit.

Plans for the Hilberry Gateway project include a new 450-seat theater with a modern "thrust" stage, a stage that extends out so that the audience sits on three sides instead of just in front. Meanwhile, the existing Hilberry, originally a church building dating to 1916, would be converted to a multipurpose "black box" theater, said Matthew Seeger, professor and dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts.

As part of the project, the historic David Mackenzie House at 4735 Cass Ave., a Queen Anne-style mansion dating to 1895 and built by the scholar who started the Detroit Junior College in 1917, part of the nucleus of what is now WSU, will be relocated elsewhere on campus and preserved, Seeger said.

A lot depends on the fund-raising, but the Gateway project is expected to be part of WSU's broader capital campaign launching in the fall. Details of that campaign are yet to be announced, but is expected to be targeted toward raising funds for a variety of WSU projects by the university's 150th anniversary celebration in 2018.

The Mackenzie House is owned by Wayne State and used by the nonprofit group Preservation Detroit, which lobbies for architectural preservation. Claire Nowak-Boyd, the group's executive director, said she worries about moving the structure and where it might end up as well as what a big new project might do to the scale of that part of Cass Avenue.

"I'm excited about the prospect of the Hilberry expanding. They do good work," she said. "We're hoping to be invited at the table and be partners and active participants. We would just like to be part of the process."

Moving historic buildings involves a well-understood technology and has been done many times in Detroit to save landmark structures. Mariners' Church near Hart Plaza and the quaint Elwood Bar & Grill near Ford Field were both moved from their original locations to save them.

Seeger said the Hilberry Gateway project has been under discussion for about four years. It is planned as a three-phase project. The first phase would be a new theater near the current Hilberry. A second phase would be a support space for the scenery, costumes, and other needs. The third phase would see therenovation of the existing Hilberry Theatre into a "multiform theater" that would allow for a variety of different performance spaces as well as room for lectures and other WSU events.

"We feel it's a pretty comprehensive integrated plan," Seeger said. "We're very excited about it."

Money for moving the Mackenzie House will be included in the budget for the project, he said.

"The university and the college recognize the importance of the Mackenzie House," Seeger said. "Obviously we would honor that important facility, which has been such an important part of Wayne State over the years."

He added, "People can relax around that. It's not going to be torn down."

Sue Mosey, executive director of the civic group Midtown Detroit, called the Hilberry Gateway project a "win-win" for everyone, preserving the Mackenzie House, creating a major new arts facility, and repurposing a surface parking lot at Forest and Cass for the new development.

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 orgallagher@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jgallagherfreep.