INTERLOCHEN, MICHIGAN — An arts summer camp and boarding school in Michigan, where Jeffrey Epstein is accused of meeting at least two of his victims, will demolish a motel that once bore his name.
the Interlochen Arts Center It said this week that its board of trustees had approved a plan to demolish Green Lake Lodge, which was known as the Jeffrey E. Epstein Scholarship Center until the school severed ties and eliminated references to the late millionaire sex offender after his first conviction in 2008.
Epstein attended Interlochen Arts Camp in 1967 as a teenager, and donated more than $400,000 to the school between 1990 and 2003, including $200,000 to build the hostel.
“Over time, the Forum has come to bear associations that do not reflect who we are as an institution or the values we strive to uphold,” Interlochen said in a statement. “After careful consideration, the Board of Directors has determined that removing this structure in a safe and timely manner is the right move for Interlochen at this time.”
A world-famous destination for young artists, actors and musicians, Interlochen alumni include Grammy Award winners Chappell Rowan and Norah Jones and Academy Award winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
At least two of Epstein’s accusers have said they met him in Interlochen in the 1990s.
The school said it was Aware of news reports About the women’s allegations, she said she had invited them to speak with an independent investigator as part of an external investigation into reports of historical misconduct at Interlochen.
The school said internal reviews, most recently after Epstein’s sex trafficking arrest in 2019, found no reports of misconduct at Interlochen related to Epstein in its records.
Epstein visited Interlochen periodically, often with his close friend and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, and stayed at the lodge, which is now ready for demolition.
According to correspondence Included in the latest release of the Ministry of Justice From records related to Epstein, he ordered at least one student’s tuition to be paid with his donations, and he once flew violinist Itzhak Perlman to school on his private plane.
Epstein He committed suicide in a federal prison in Manhattan In August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. In 2008 and 2009, he served prison time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a person under 18.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking for helping to recruit some of Epstein’s underage victims, and he is accused He is serving a 20-year prison sentence.