A Sept. 29, 1940 Tribune article: “The former 289 seat Grandale theater at 3679 Grand has been replaced with the 600 seat Rex theater designed by Roy B Blass.” So i’m not sure these were necessarily the same theater, although the same site. Blass often did renovation work though, and considering when it opened, it may well have been. I’m just not certain how that much seating could be gained, unless a stage was removed or walls pushed back or something. Here is a 2000 picture of the church.
There’s really no legal reason you couldn’t. But the “Add a Photo” feature on this site has been non-functional for a very long time now. Your best bet would be to use an online service like flickr.com, imageshack.com, or photobucket.com and post a link here.
I do actually have copies of a couple small pictures of the exterior and interior from 1916.
I went by the site the other day, and it really is a mess. They have not done any demolition work yet, and the back wall of a few of the stores has collapsed. I don’t see it standing too terribly much longer, unfortunately. It was an attractive building.
The Rosewood was, of course, named for the intersection of Montrose and Ravenswood. It the theater portion of the building is doomed as part of the Brown line expansion, done in by the very force that brought it into existence at that location. The CTA aquired it in the last month. The theater is empty and has a fence around the front; the corner cleaners too. The rest of the building is still in operation. It has some nice Sullivanesque terra cotta medallions. The auditorium was not entirely gutted for the contractor’s shop and still looks mostly the same; it was a simple barrel-vault design with arches. There are windows cut into the sides that you can peer into.
The auditoria here are nearly identical to the Esquire.
AMC seems to have slightly improved things; the carpet is either new or freshly cleaned, and the large theater is kept clean and has refurbished seats with new dark blue covers. The smaller auditoria are still kind of dirty and have their worn out seats and scent.
That’s pretty cool, RobertR. Where did you find it? I will shortly add a couple more historic interiors of the building for reference purposes only to my flickr including the much-requested original auditorium view. Also those who suggested that the lobby was largely a fascimile of the original are totally right, it was a reconstruction for the most part, but I think it still retained the character fairly well. The auditoriums were nonetheless pretty dreadful.
In fairness, it was put up by the building’s owner, not Village. Although Village is terribly cheap about signage, like the CO logos that are still everywhere. In fact, at Bloomingdale Court, they took half of the CO logo and rotated it 90 degrees to make a ‘V’ for Village.
As an unbiased third party, i’d like to say that I read Mr. Rankin’s comment as the compliment it was apparently intended to be. It is possible to compliment and offer gentle criticism at the same time. It seemed clear to me that he was using the word ‘ignorant’ in its original, rarely-used sense; literally, ignoring the conventions of paragraphing. (And I think a comment like “Or were these entries of interest simply a passing of time; a break from the stale routine of manhandling the remote, eating a frozen dinner and scratching your ass?” is far cruder. It did not seem to me that he was saying it was overlong; rather that it was far more detailed than almost any post seen here.
Thank you so much for posting your vivid recollections of the Patio, Mr. Antoneli. It inspired me to drive out there yesterday in the rain to look at it and see what it would bring out in me. However, going there, I saw an unexpected sight: The sides of the marquee have been covered over by vinyl advertising banners for a local Cingular Wireless outlet! Perhaps the strangest part about this advertising display is that at the bottom is the text that has occupied the side panels for years now: advertising the “Theater Renovation” that, by all appearances, has not and is not occuring. Otherwise, the marquee remains sad and forlorn, missing its neon, bulbs, and beaten by the ravages of trucks having backed into it. Large sections of paint seem to have fallen away this winter. I really hope that marquee glows again one day. Maybe another knight like Alex can swoop in and bring it back.
By 1918 the site was an auto dealership
A Sept. 29, 1940 Tribune article: “The former 289 seat Grandale theater at 3679 Grand has been replaced with the 600 seat Rex theater designed by Roy B Blass.” So i’m not sure these were necessarily the same theater, although the same site. Blass often did renovation work though, and considering when it opened, it may well have been. I’m just not certain how that much seating could be gained, unless a stage was removed or walls pushed back or something. Here is a 2000 picture of the church.
There’s really no legal reason you couldn’t. But the “Add a Photo” feature on this site has been non-functional for a very long time now. Your best bet would be to use an online service like flickr.com, imageshack.com, or photobucket.com and post a link here.
View link . You’ll have to look at the newspaper images full-size to discern them.
I do actually have copies of a couple small pictures of the exterior and interior from 1916.
I went by the site the other day, and it really is a mess. They have not done any demolition work yet, and the back wall of a few of the stores has collapsed. I don’t see it standing too terribly much longer, unfortunately. It was an attractive building.
It closed May 3, 1953 and was considered for use as a dance hall, but the community did not allow it and it underwent retail conversion.
I should add that I do have copies of photos showing the facade and interior from opening. The interior was much like the Logan before it was quadded.
Well yeah! I agree it looks cool. I’m just saying is all.
The Rosewood was, of course, named for the intersection of Montrose and Ravenswood. It the theater portion of the building is doomed as part of the Brown line expansion, done in by the very force that brought it into existence at that location. The CTA aquired it in the last month. The theater is empty and has a fence around the front; the corner cleaners too. The rest of the building is still in operation. It has some nice Sullivanesque terra cotta medallions. The auditorium was not entirely gutted for the contractor’s shop and still looks mostly the same; it was a simple barrel-vault design with arches. There are windows cut into the sides that you can peer into.
The auditoria here are nearly identical to the Esquire.
AMC seems to have slightly improved things; the carpet is either new or freshly cleaned, and the large theater is kept clean and has refurbished seats with new dark blue covers. The smaller auditoria are still kind of dirty and have their worn out seats and scent.
Ron Rooding, who runs Village Entertainment, bought the theater in 1993. It was quadded two years earlier.
My main concern with the Showplace is that there seems to be very little parking directly around the theaters. Is there any plan to address that?
I was at the Hotel Florence a couple of months ago. Still a lot of beauty inside, but it needs a huge amount of work too.
That’s pretty cool, RobertR. Where did you find it? I will shortly add a couple more historic interiors of the building for reference purposes only to my flickr including the much-requested original auditorium view. Also those who suggested that the lobby was largely a fascimile of the original are totally right, it was a reconstruction for the most part, but I think it still retained the character fairly well. The auditoriums were nonetheless pretty dreadful.
I think it might have been edited, but the full version didn’t cover much of the history anyway.
View link
http://www.jamusa.com/vic/pictures-general.htm
Some more busts from the facade are on a wall in front of a home on Geneva Terrace near Fullerton Avenue.
In fairness, it was put up by the building’s owner, not Village. Although Village is terribly cheap about signage, like the CO logos that are still everywhere. In fact, at Bloomingdale Court, they took half of the CO logo and rotated it 90 degrees to make a ‘V’ for Village.
The Cinema’s marquee is now hanging in the lobby of the Chicago History Museum.
As an unbiased third party, i’d like to say that I read Mr. Rankin’s comment as the compliment it was apparently intended to be. It is possible to compliment and offer gentle criticism at the same time. It seemed clear to me that he was using the word ‘ignorant’ in its original, rarely-used sense; literally, ignoring the conventions of paragraphing. (And I think a comment like “Or were these entries of interest simply a passing of time; a break from the stale routine of manhandling the remote, eating a frozen dinner and scratching your ass?” is far cruder. It did not seem to me that he was saying it was overlong; rather that it was far more detailed than almost any post seen here.
Thank you so much for posting your vivid recollections of the Patio, Mr. Antoneli. It inspired me to drive out there yesterday in the rain to look at it and see what it would bring out in me. However, going there, I saw an unexpected sight: The sides of the marquee have been covered over by vinyl advertising banners for a local Cingular Wireless outlet! Perhaps the strangest part about this advertising display is that at the bottom is the text that has occupied the side panels for years now: advertising the “Theater Renovation” that, by all appearances, has not and is not occuring. Otherwise, the marquee remains sad and forlorn, missing its neon, bulbs, and beaten by the ravages of trucks having backed into it. Large sections of paint seem to have fallen away this winter. I really hope that marquee glows again one day. Maybe another knight like Alex can swoop in and bring it back.
It appears that it was the auditorium that collapsed, but the storefronts were mostly unaffected but may be demolished anyway.
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Really?! Wow, that’s very unfortunate.
Yeah, you’re right, that is a reasonable price now that I look at it. Apologies.