Michael Ray, Love and Theft, other country singers coming to Eloise Asylum next month
GEORGE, WASHINGTON - JULY 31: Singer Michael Ray performs onstage during the Watershed Country Music Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre on July 31, 2022 in George, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)
WESTLAND, Mich. (FOX 2) - Westland's Eloise Asylum is transforming into a concert venue with a show next month.
On Aug. 3, Michael Ray, Love and Theft, Ryan Jay & The Wrecking Crew, and Rob Stone will take the stage for the Country Music Blowout on the grounds of the historic building.
The Iconic Eloise Venue is the latest endeavor at the former mental hospital. Eloise currently hosts a haunted attraction in the fall, houses escape rooms, and offers history and paranormal tours.
The history of Eloise
The Eloise Psychiatric Hospital had many names and several divisions when the sprawling complex was operating in what is now Westland.
At one point, Eloise was its own city that occupied more than 900 acres near what is now Michigan Avenue and Henry Ruff Road. Eloise stopped offering psychiatric care in 1979 and the general hospital shuttered in 1984.
Many buildings were demolished shortly after the hospital closed and much of the land is used for other purposes now, such as a strip mall where the Kroger at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Merriman Road is located, and a golf course.
Other buildings, such as the bakery, have been demolished more recently after damage from vandals. Arsonists lit the bakery on fire in 2016.
However, several buildings still stand, including the Kay Beard Building, which housed psych patients and was used as an administration building for Wayne County for a period when Eloise was closed. The commissary building is now a homeless shelter.
In 2021, the Eloise Haunted Attraction opened.