Hillgreen, Lane & Co.
Opus 630, 1922

The theater was sold to Paramount ca. 1929 and the Hillgreen, Lane was removed and replaced by a Wurlitzer.

From cinematreasures.org: The Capitol Theatre was considered Detroit’s first official movie palace, and when it opened January 12, 1922, it sat about 3,500, the fifth largest ever built in the US at the time. Its architect, C. Howard Crane, designed the Capitol Theatre in the style of the Italian Renaissance, and its facade, with its soaring Corinthian columns, loomed over Broadway like a royal palace. Its interior was even more ornate, with several kinds of marble, Tiffany mosaics, sculpture and gilt decorating its lobby and other areas. The Capitol Theatre is said to have cost over $2 million to build.

The theatre’s name was changed to the Paramount Theatre on August 30, 1929, when it was taken over by the Paramount-Publix chain, and featured live stage shows and vaudeville acts. Stars who appeared on the Paramount Theatre’s stage in those days included W.C. Fields, Fatty Arbuckle, and Guy Lombardo and his Orchestra.

As a result of the Depression, the theatre closed in 1932, but only until August31, 1934, when it reopened under United Detroit Theaters with another new name, this time the Broadway-Capitol Theatre. It was in 1960 that United Detroit Theaters poured over $100,000 into remodeling the theatre, completely changing its facade and slightly reducing its seating capacity. It was also given yet another new name on December 23, 1960 when it became the Grand Circus Theatre, continuing to screen second-run films. The theatre often struggled during the 1960’s and 1970’s, but remained open until 1978, with the last film on its screen being “Jailbait Babysitter” starring Therese Pare.

During the early-to-mid-1980’s, the Grand Circus Theatre was used for concerts, but was forced to close in 1985 after a fire broke out.

In 1989, the Michigan Opera Theatre purchased the Grand Circus Theatre and nearby Madison Theatre for $3.5 million and began a $20 million campaign to restore the interior of the old Capitol Theatre to its 1920’s appearance, enlarge its stage, improve the sound and lighting systems, and reduce seating to a more comfortable 2,700.

Updated through online information from William M. Worden. -- The theater is now the Detroit Opera House. One source says the Hillgreen-Lane was replaced by a Publix I Wurlitzer in the late 1920s. (Might this indicate that the Hillgreen-Lane was found too "churchy" for movie use?)

This entry describes an original installation of a new pipe organ.
Identified by William Dunklin, using information from this web site: http://barton.theatreorgans.com/.
-- The Capitol theatre, Detroit's first truly grand movie palace, seated 3500. It was later known as the Paramount, the Capitol-Broadway and still stands in 2013 with name Grand Circus. Hillgreen, Lane & Co., not particularly known for their theatre organs, seems an unlikely choice of organ builders for such an opulent building. According to the website http://barton.theatreorgans.com/ the original cost of the organ was only $8000.