Overview
- This week the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ Board of Trustees voted to raze Green Lake Lodge, a building the board said carries associations inconsistent with the school’s values.
- The lodge was built with donations from Jeffrey Epstein, who attended Interlochen as a camper and gave to the center from 1990 to 2003, and the school removed donor recognition and renamed the building after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
- Journalists using U.S. Department of Justice files reported that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell used donor access at Interlochen to meet some early alleged victims, a claim the school’s prior internal reviews say they found no records to corroborate.
- Interlochen says the lodge had not been in use, that it has fully cooperated with government requests, and that many documents the DOJ released were ones the center had previously provided to authorities.
- The decision has touched off local political dispute over investigation efforts and the school has invited accusers to speak with an independent investigator while it develops plans for the site and next steps for community healing.