Quo Vadis Entertainment Center

Coordinates: 42°20′28″N 83°23′3″W / 42.34111°N 83.38417°W

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Quo Vadis Entertainment Center
The theater in 2008

Alternative names	Penthouse Theater
General information
Location	Westland, Michigan
Address	7420 North Wayne Rd
Opened	1966
Closed	2002
Demolished	2011
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Minoru Yamasaki

The Quo Vadis Entertainment Center (also known as the Quo Vadis or the Penthouse Theater) was a movie theater in Westland, Michigan. Opened in 1966, it closed in 2002 and then remained vacant until it was demolished in 2011. It was noted for its modernist exterior designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki, as well as for being one of the first cinemas to offer cocktail drinks.

History

The Quo Vadis Entertainment Center was the fruit of Martin and Charlie Shafer's hard work and determination to build a movie palace. The structure was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who had previously completed the designs for the World Trade Center in 1964. The Quo Vadis Entertainment Center opened in 1966.^[1] Its exterior is in the Modernist style, while its interior made use of Roman design motifs. The Quo Vadis was regarded as a "movie palace" for its plush environment and cocktail lounge. It was one of the first cinemas to offer cocktail drinks to its patrons and was well known for its "Over 21 Club" cocktail lounge on the second floor. The Quo Vadis also offered patrons of the "Over 21 Club" headphones to watch movies at the adjacent Algiers Drive-In through a "picture window wall". The Algiers Drive-In was demolished in 1985 to make way for a shopping center.^[2]^[3] The Quo Vadis theater closed in 2002.^[1]

National Amusements purchased the property in 1986 and was still the owner as of October 2010. Despite attempts by local groups to preserve the building,^[1] demolition began in March 2011 and was completed by June 2011.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Patton, Naomi R. (February 4, 2009). "Westland: Wrecking Ball or Curtain Call? Teens Fight to Spare Old Quo Vadis Theater from Demolition". Detroit Free Press. ProQuest 436992304.
^ "Algiers Drive-In". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
^ "Quo Vadis Theatre". Water Winter Wonderland. Retrieved 17 December 2021.

External links

42°20′28″N 83°23′3″W / 42.34111°N 83.38417°W / 42.34111; -83.38417

v t e Minoru Yamasaki
Skyscrapers	One Woodward Avenue (1963) IBM Building (1963) The Century Plaza Hotel (1966) M&T Bank Center, Buffalo (1967) World Trade Center Tower 1, Tower 2, Buildings 4, 5 and 6 (1970–1971) Montgomery Ward Corporate Headquarters Tower (1972) Century Plaza Towers (1975) Bank of Oklahoma (1977) Rainier Bank Tower (1977) Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (1978) 100 Washington Square (1981) Torre Picasso (1988) Columbia Center (1989–2000)
Airports	St. Louis Lambert International Airport main terminal (1956) Dhahran International Airport terminal (1961) Eastern Airlines terminal at Logan Airport (1969) King Fahd International Airport master plan (1977)
Houses of worship	North Shore Congregation Israel (1964) Temple Beth El (1974) Shinji Shumeikai Founder's Hall (1982)
Other buildings	Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch Building annex (1951) Pruitt–Igoe housing project (1954) Grosse Pointe University School (1954) Military Personnel Records Center (1955) McGregor Memorial Conference Center (1957) Prentis Building and DeRoy Auditorium Complex (1959) Pacific Science Center (1962) Irwin Library at Butler University (1963) Oberlin Conservatory of Music (1963) Northwestern National Life Building (1965) Robertson Hall at Princeton University (1965) Quo Vadis Entertainment Center (1966) Dr. John Archer Library (1967) Japan Center (1968) Tulsa Performing Arts Center (1976) Istanbul Cevahir (1987)
Landscape architecture	Wascana Centre and University of Regina - Regina Campus (1961–1967)
List of works by Minoru Yamasaki

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