Grande in the Rearview
In 2003 when I started thegrandeballroom.com to write about this old historic building, I never imagined I would still be writing about it nearly 20 years later. Nor would have imagined all the great...
View ArticleGrande Ballroom Russ Gibb vase finds a home
In December 2021 an auction was held for the “Holy Grail” of all Grande memorabilia, Russ Gibb’s Grande Ballroom Italian Planter Vase. (see its story in the original blog post) All proceeds going to...
View ArticleGrande Vase “Holy Grail” Auction
Grande Planter Vase auction begins During the Grande Ballroom’s rock heyday, there remained in the building furnishings from its 1920’s movie palace inspired past. Amongst these items were carved...
View ArticleGrande Ballroom – Bogle Family Collection
Since starting to write about the Grande Ballroom in 2003 I have spent countless hours in libraries poring over microfilm and archives. Many nights crawling the InterGoogle for scraps of data and...
View ArticleGrande Spanish Tile Magic
Beverly Court Spanish Tile outer roof. Recently during inspections of the Grande Ballroom, our team discovered some of remnants of the Grande’s famous Spanish or “barrel” tile roof. Upon close...
View ArticleRuss Gibb – Cadillac Memorial Gardens West
For those that would like to pay their respects, Russ Gibb’s final resting place is located at Cadillac Memorial Gardens West in Westland, Michigan. The legendary Grande promoter, educator and radio...
View ArticleElizabeth Sulflow-Willoughby – Grande Ballroom Diorama
Recently I had reached out to the brilliant artist Elizabeth Sulflow-Willoughby regarding her fantastic scale building dioramas. Elizabeth had posted on social media stunningly accurate 3-d depictions...
View ArticleStrategic Stabilization at the Grande
This month, thanks to the generous donors of our fall GoFundMe campaign, the Friends of The Grande and Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church were finally able to engage contractors for roof...
View ArticleGrande Ballroom Emergency Roof Fund Crowdfunding
For Immediate release: Detroit’s Friends of the Grande are partnering with the Grande Ballroom’s current owners, Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church in a $20,000 Crowdfunding campaign. Necessitated...
View ArticleMoonshot Grande
The following story was removed from The Grande Ballroom Detroit’s Rock n Roll Palace during the editing phase when we needed to reduce word count. I am sharing it here today on the 50th Anniversary...
View ArticleRuss Gibb Memorial May 17 – Gibb Scholarship fund.
The public memorial for Russ has been set for May 17 from 4-7pm at the Dearborn Community and Performing Arts Center on Michigan Avenue and Greenfield. It will be held in Studio A. Peanut M&Ms...
View ArticleRuss Gibb Grande Flash Mob 5.5.19
Who: Friends, Students. Colleagues and Compatriots of Russell J. Gibb – “Uncle Russ” What: A “Flash Mob” gathering as an unofficial, impromptu remembrance of Russ Gibb featuring an eco-friendly...
View ArticleJim Dunbar – Gibb friend and California radio great passes
We’ve learned today that Jim Dunbar, California radio great and lifelong friend of Russ Gibb passed away, age 89 on April 22. Jim and his younger brother Bill grew up on Hartwell street in Dearborn,...
View ArticleRuss Gibb Remembered
Russell James Gibb June 15,1931 – April 30,2019 Tuesday 09:00 P.M. I am sitting here writing this obituary of sorts in the middle of a spring evening thunderstorm. “It was a dark and rainy night”, I...
View ArticleRuss Gibb Passes at age 87
Russ Gibb June 15,1931 – April 30,2019 It is with great sadness that I announce that the Grande Ballroom’s Russ Gibb has passed away at the age of 87. Russ had been in declining health for some...
View ArticleGrande Spanish Tile Magic
Beverly Court Spanish Tile outer roof. Recently during inspections of the Grande Ballroom, our team discovered some of remnants of the Grande’s famous Spanish or “barrel” tile roof. Upon close...
View ArticleGrande Ballroom 2.0 Pronounced Viable
CHMBC Deacon Hudson, Contractor Ellis and F.O.G. Team Lead Early In October of 2018 the Friends of the Grande performed a structural inspection of all three floors of the Grande Ballroom building....
View ArticleGrande Column Corbels Repatriated
“Repatriation is the process of returning an asset, an item of symbolic value or a person – voluntarily or forcibly – to its owner or their place of origin or citizenship.” When it opened in 1928 the...
View ArticleGrande Ballroom Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
On December 10,2018, The Grande Ballroom was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally proposed in 2008, the nomination gained steam with the approval of the current...
View ArticleThe Grande Ballroom Mural
The week of October 21, 2018 saw new activity at the Grande Ballroom. Onlookers would have seen the application of a new coat of paint to the building…. Grande Mural (Photo: Justin McCormack) This was...
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