Jack White Saves Detroit Masonic Temple from Foreclosure
Jack White has been outed as the anonymous donor who paid the $142,000 in taxes needed by Detroit’s Masonic Temple to stave off foreclosure, the Detroit Free Press reports today. The Temple’s Cathedral Theater will be renamed the Jack White Theater in the rocker’s honor.
“Jack’s donation could not have come at a better time and we are eternally grateful to him for it,” said Roger Sobran, president of the Detroit Masonic Temple Association. “Jack’s magnanimous generosity and unflinching loyalty to this historic building and his Detroit roots is appreciated beyond words.”
Q&A: Jack White on New Dead Weather and Solo Tracks, Radio City Walk-off
A Detroit native, White has taken the stage at the Temple several times. He also frequented the venue as a kid when his mother worked there as an usher.
“We could not be more humbled to bestow this honor on Jack,” Sobran said of the 1,586-seat theater that now bears White’s name. Further donations to the Detroit Masonic Temple can be made at its website by clicking on the “Support the Temple” tab.
Back in 2009, White was suspected to be the secret benefactor of $170,000 used to repair a baseball field at Detroit’s Clark Park, where he played ball as a kid.