By Jim Bloch
Feb. 5 was a sad day in metropolitan Detroit for fans of independent, foreign, and art-house movies. The venerable Maple Theatre in Bloomfield Township unexpectedly closed its doors.
The theatre posted a “Sorry, We Are Permanently Closed” flyer on its website announcing the shuttering.
“Dear The Maple Guests, We appreciate all the support and patronage from the community these past 12 years,” said Jon and Lauren Goldstein in the flyer. “With sincere gratitude and love, we thank everyone who has bought a ticket, ate a meal or worked a shift.”
The Detroit News reported that the couple decided not to renew their lease on the building.
The Goldsteins took over the theatre in 2012 from the Landmark chain, which also operated The Main Theatre in Royal Oak, gutting the space on the southwest corner of Telegraph and Maple Roads, installing state-of-the-art equipment, new seats, lighting, restrooms, and a contemporary cafe serving cocktails such as the Old Hollywood, the theatre’s version of a classic Manhattan. The cafe faced Maple Road.
The art-house showed a full complement of films in its three auditoriums the weekend before it closed, including “American Fiction” and “The Zone of Interest,” both nominated for a 2024 Best Picture Oscar.
The Maple opened originally in 1977.
Two years earlier, Jimmy Hoffa, the infamous Teamster boss, disappeared from the Machus Red Fox, a restaurant that sat in the parking lot on the Telegraph side of the strip mall that houses the theatre. Today, the restaurant is part of the local Andiamo chain.
The scent of fresh popcorn has disappeared from the corner of Maple and Telegraph.
The theatre’s shuttering may be laid at the feet of the pandemic, during which indoor gatherings of people were prohibited. Meanwhile, streaming movies at home soared, denting the bottom line of theatres. Independents like The Maple did not have the resources of the big chains and barely clung to life.
The closure means that there are no privately owned art house theatres operating in the region. The Main, which opened in 1941, closed its doors in June 2021 and was razed in July 2022. Cinema Detroit closed its midtown theatre in June.
That leaves the Detroit Institute of Art’s Detroit Film Theatre as the only remaining bastion of alternative, non-commercial movie-going. The DFT’s film program turned 50 in January.
The Emagine theatre group will honor gift cards and special membership rewards for patrons of The Maple.
“We will savor the memories of opening night, Secret Cinema, and the many celebrations and special events will live forever in our memories,” the Goldsteins said. “Being able to operate a theatre in our own community was one of the great privileges of our lives.”
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
