11. Summer Theater / Red Barn

Location: 3650 63rd Street, Saugatuck Township
Date: 1954

For many years one of the best known summer stock theaters in the Midwest, the Red Barn was founded by Jim Webster. His “Summer Players” first performance venue was in the Saugatuck High School in 1948, then they moved to a barn in Douglas (east of the Petter Gallery), and finally to this barn at the Belvedere farm. In 1958 the theater advertised 12 weeks of summer stock, “all Broadway Hits” played by a professional New York cast. By 1962 it had expanded its seating to accommodate an audience of 500. It officially closed its doors in 2002. After a few years use as part of the Guardian Brewery, the building was demolished in June 2026 by the Grant Collection.