Interlochen to Demolish Jeffrey Epstein Lodge
A prestigious Michigan summer arts camp and boarding school is set to demolish a lodge that once bore the name of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Interlochen Center for the Arts announced that its board of trustees approved plans to tear down the Green Lake Lodge, previously known as the Jeffrey E Epstein Scholarship Lodge.
Epstein attended the Interlochen arts camp in 1967 as a teenager and donated more than $400,000 to the school between 1990 and 2003, including $200,000 for the construction of the lodge. The school cut ties and removed Epstein's name after his first conviction in 2008.
“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,” Interlochen 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.”
Interlochen is a world-renowned destination for young artists, actors, and musicians. Its alumni include Grammy winners Chappell Roan and Norah Jones, as well as Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
At least two of Epstein’s accusers have stated that they met him at Interlochen in the 1990s. The school acknowledged news reports about these claims and has invited the women to speak with an independent investigator as part of an external investigation into historical misconduct at Interlochen.
Following two internal reviews—the most recent after Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking arrest—the school found no reports of misconduct involving Epstein in its records. Epstein visited Interlochen periodically, often with his confidante and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, and stayed in the lodge now slated for demolition.
Correspondence included in the Justice Department’s recent release of Epstein-related records shows that he directed tuition payments for at least one student from his donations and once flew violinist Itzhak Perlman to the school on his private jet.
Epstein died by suicide in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019, one month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. In 2008 and 2009, he served jail time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for helping recruit some of Epstein’s underage victims and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
