Lakewood Residents Speak Out Against McDonald's at Detroit Theatre Location

The auditorium at the Lakewood Public Library was over capacity Monday night at about 150 people.

They all seemed to have questions — and concerns — about a development proposal that would in the place where the Detroit Theatre has stood for nearly 90 years.

Representatives from the city — as well as a half-dozen representatives from McDonald’s — were on hand to field questions from concerned residents, neighbors and preservationists.

Officials from McDonald's said the corporation has narrowed its field of possible locations to the spot at 16407 Detroit Avenue. Tentative plans call for the existing structure to be demolished.

No deal has yet been finalized.

Mayor Michael Summers, who served as a moderator at the event, has said that the city wouldn’t seek to change the zoning to prevent McDonald's from moving in.

“If we were in fact to say ‘no, no, no, you can’t do it,’ when in fact the zoning code says you can, we’d very likely be sued — and we’d very likely lose that suit,” he recently told Lakewood Patch.

Some residents asked about designating the property as a historic landmark. That’s something that would need to be led by citizens, city officials said.

Several people at the meeting talked about the need to mobilize to save the building.

Others expressed concerns about noise, light and increased traffic.

Dru Siley, the city’s assistant director of building and development, said that while the city administration cannot stop McDonald’s from building a new restaurant, it can influence the design of the structure — and its impact on the neighborhood — with the city’s planning commission and Architectural Board of Review.

Others at the forum simply expressed their dislike of McDonald’s.

The building — at 16409 Detroit Avenue — has been on the market for years with a price tag of $695,000, but gained little interest. With declining attendance in an industry that has struggled to remain financially viable, the earlier this year after 87 years.

In April, city officials learned that McDonald's was looking to relocate its Sloane Avenue location — which opened in the 1960s, when the thoroughfare was more widely traveled.

Additional meetings are tentatively planned to give residents the opportunity to weigh in.