Canton Venue Getting Wrecking Ball

Center Stage, a shuttered venue in Canton, Mich., is expected to be demolished within the next year to make way for a shopping complex.

The venue closed in 2001 when owner John Sassak Sr. died from complications he suffered in a car accident.

His family recently sold the property for $2.2 million, according to The Detroit News.

Center Stage opened in 1979. In its heyday, it hosted 50 concerts a year, including John Cougar, The Police, Tina Turner, Bob Seger, The Knack, Dire Straits, Rodney Dangerfield and one of the last shows of Ricky Nelson.

That changed in the ’80s when the advent of MTV resulted in less touring artists, and the ’90s brought higher guarantees.

Ultimately, the Sassak family didn’t want the burden of resurrecting the venue, the paper said.