Interlochen Center for the Arts, one of America's most prestigious summer camps and boarding schools for young musicians and performers, announced plans this week to tear down a lodge that once carried Jeffrey Epstein's name. The decision comes as the Michigan institution grapples with allegations that the late financier and convicted sex offender met at least two of his victims at the facility decades ago.
The Green Lake Lodge, originally named the Jeffrey E Epstein Scholarship Lodge, will be demolished, the school's board of trustees confirmed. Interlochen had already removed Epstein's name from the building and severed ties with him after his 2008 conviction, but stopped short of removing the structure itself until now.
Epstein spent formative years at Interlochen as a teenager in 1967, later becoming a major donor. Between 1990 and 2003, he contributed more than $400,000 to the school, including $200,000 for the construction of the lodge where he frequently stayed during visits with his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
"The lodge has, over time, come to carry associations that are not reflective of who we are as an institution or the values we strive to uphold," the school said in a statement. "After careful consideration, the board determined that removing this structure in a safe and timely manner is the right step for Interlochen at this time."
At least two women who say Epstein abused them have stated they met him at Interlochen during the 1990s. The school acknowledged awareness of these claims and has invited the accusers to participate in an external investigation into historical misconduct at the institution. Two internal reviews, including one conducted after Epstein's 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, found no records of misconduct involving him at Interlochen.
Justice Department records released recently revealed the extent of Epstein's involvement with the school. He used his donations to direct payments for at least one student's tuition and even chartered his private jet to fly renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman to the campus.
Interlochen has produced Grammy Award winners like Chappell Roan and Norah Jones, as well as Oscar winner Da'Vine Joy Randolph, cementing its status as a world-class training ground for performing artists.
Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019, one month after being charged with sex trafficking. He had previously served jail time in Florida in 2008 and 2009 following a guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a minor. His longtime associate Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and is currently serving a 20-year sentence.
Author James Rodriguez: "Demolishing the lodge is the right call, but it shouldn't erase scrutiny of how thoroughly Interlochen vets its donors and protects its students."
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