- Bennett & Straight, 1934
Single-screen neighborhood movie houses were in vogue when the Midway Theater opened its doors on February 28, 1934. The premiere featured “a program of civic importance” as Dearborn’s Mayor Clyde Ford and other city officials welcomed the new business.
The Midway theater was designed by Dearborn-based architects Bennet & Straight, whose offices occupied the Schaefer Building across the street. It took less than 7 months to build thanks to “expediting contractor” C. J. Patton. The Midway featured “colorful modernistic” interiors and a granite-chip terrazzo floor by Dearborn’s own Italian Mosaic & Tile Corp. The facade’s stonework was Kasota rock, sourced in Ohio.
The Midway was operated by businessmen Joseph Miskinis and Joseph Stoia. Its initial success is evidenced in this passage from the 1935 book History of Dearborn: “The Midway opened its doors at a low point in the business depression but met with tremendous response from the movie fans of the city.” The “really modern show house” had close to 1,000 seats, which were probably all filled on warm summer nights throughout the 40’s and 50’s.
Though architecturally overshadowed by its high-style neighbor, the Schaefer Building, the Midway Building remains a local art deco edifice. Original details include fluted pilasters, decorative lintels that mimic both triangular and stepped pyramids, and a subtle cornice band that seems to loosely replicate the Masonic compass in a running pattern. While partially restored in 2008, perhaps a future restoration will remove the granite panels that covered its storefront window walls in the 1950s.
Historic photo courtesy the Dearborn Historical Museum.
