The Cine' was built in 1937 and was one of Rapp & Rapp’s later designs. A theater at this location was a long time in coming; in 1928, plans to build a 1.5 million, 2,500 seat theater one block east, at the NE corner of Devon and Campbell, designed by JEO Pridmore as the first talkie-only in the city, for Sam Meyers. These plans probably eventually evolved into the Nortown. Fall 1936 brought a flurry of cinema activity to the area- A 1,200 seat theater was announced to be built directly north of the Nortown, Sam Meyers announced plans for the $200,000, 1,200 seat Cine' (initially, ‘Maple’, and later to have been named by contest) at Devon and Maplewood, and Balaban and Katz announced their intention to build a $200,000, 1,500 seat theater, designed by JEO Pridmore at the Devon-Campbell site. Those plans were abandoned a month later – after excavation had started – because of difficulty obtaining needed land by removing an alley (perhaps the reason why the Nortown was not built there), and B&K and Meyers decided to partner in the Cine'. It originally featured a large glass block rainbow light pylon as a vertical sign, since removed. Other features touted were indirect lighting, rainbow glass walls, a crystal grand staircase and full air conditioning; opening ads touded its' rich simplicity, modern comfort, and lounge-like seats. Also, ‘owing to poor subsoil conditions, the boiler room (was to be) placed over the lobby instead of beneath the theater’, and the original drawing shows the shops as a single-story building. It opened September 4, 1937. In 1942 B&K bought out Sam Meyers' portion of the lease. After only 15 years in operation, it closed in 1953, and was converted to the Turner Brothers clothing store. None of the original theater is visible inside the restaurant (although it is quite tasty). Also, here is the new address for the photo Bryan linked earlier.
In 1985, the theater’s mob-figure owner, Patsy Riccardi, turned up dead in a car trunk. At the time, it was still a porno theater and had been open since 1969, so I would assume the interior was intact. However, in 1958 the theater completely flooded over 10 days, so much that water was flowing out of the doors following a bad water main disconnection, so much of the interior was probably badly damaged then. It was remodeled to switch to a strip club in 1991
The theater building was or is owned by Lou Wolf, one of the city’s most notorious slumlords, who is behind the destruction by neglect of many Chicago theaters and buildings.
Really? Where did you find that out? I looked all over looking for information and couldn’t find anything until Dennis told me that. Newhouse was often the architect for the Ascher Brothers; I don’t know of any Ascher theaters from the Rapps. Very interesting!
Some other bits of the Portage’s history that have gone unmentioned here so far: During construction, the Portage was at the center of a Union extortion case involving the theater’s door installations; In 1929 the Aschers sold this and several other theaters of theirs to Fox; in 1932 it was turned over to the GCS circuit and recieved some remodeling, redecorating, and new seats; about 1940, it recieved its streamline moderne lobby, in accordance with the art deco character of Six Corners following the Klee and Sears buildings, and also had a very pretty art deco marquee and vitrolite/cararra glass entrance; in 1941 it became part of the Balaban and Katz chain, then abc/great states; by 1975 it was part of the Brotman & Sherman chain, then it was VERY briefly a live house called the Portage Palace, hosting country acts such as Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn… and those were the only two before booker Bob Briggs was tossed out and future shows cancelled. They tried again in 1977 with a Eddie Money/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show, but that was all. M&R took over in 1980 and briefly experimented with a laser light show before twinning the Portage.
From this week’s Chicago Reader ‘The Business’ column: “The Silent Film Society was booted from the Gateway Theatre a year ago, but expects to inaugurate a new home base this spring at the Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee. Film Society head and former Gateway manager Dennis Wolkowicz is one of three members of a management team that has taken a long-term lease (with option to buy) on the 85-year-old Portage. Wolkowicz says they spiffed it up, returned it to a single auditorium format, and are just awaiting (what else?) the PPA license. It’ll have 1,350 seats and will offer live music and talkiesâ€"classic, revival, independent, documentary, and foreign moviesâ€"along with the silent films.”
It looks wonderful and I eagerly await its opening.
Yes, there were, at total opposite ends of the street, and both by the same architect. And it was indeed built in 1911. The 1872 Adelphi was elsewhere in the loop, and was better known as Haverly’s, once the largest in Chicago, at Monroe and Dearborn. That theater had a rather interesting history. It was built following the fire using the outer walls of the old custom-house. It seated around 2500, a rickety firetrap with only two exits for the balconies and galleries accessible via crooked stairs, was rebuilt in 1878 and closed in 1882, replaced by a new Haverly’s theater across the street, incidentally, known as the Columbia, which later burned. Perhaps Mr. Woods, who remodeled the 1911 Columbia into the Adelphi was alluding to this earlier prominent theater.
It had 1250 seats as a single for the Center Theaters chain who also owned the Edens), and opened November 10, 1972. It was billed as a ‘Return to Elegance’ and early reports said the lobby would be decorated in “funky 1930s Roxy-theater style complete with swans swimming in the pool.” The lobby also featured various artworks meant to evoke classic movie palaces. Incidentally, one of the owners was named Robert Lubliner. I’ll bet he was a relation of Lubliner & Trinz. Cineplex took over Lubliner’s Center Theaters (McClurg and Edens) in 1987.
It was actually opened on April 4, 1931. An interesting fact about the ceiling:
“The star studded sky that will compose the auditorium ceiling og the new Publix-Balaban & Katz theater, the Nortown, which is to be opened at Devon and Western avenues on April 4, is to be an exact duplication of an April constellation, according to J. E. O. Pridmore, supervising architect. J. C. Penn, astronomy professor at Armour institute, was commissioned to put the stars in their proper places to insure that the layout would be authentic.” -Chicago Tribune, pG5, March 22, 1931.
The present theater space, as I understand it, is the old balcony space and part of the auditorium, the ground floor and stage having been destroyed, and now seats 160.
Well, this marquee IS plainer than the one they took down. They probably could have replicated the old one just as easily and added the lettering there. Also, notice they did not put back the long-missing neon on the facade on either side of the marquee. And the poster cases look different, too. See this photo. At least it wasn’t demolished, I guess, even if none of the 1913 building really survives. I’ll try to get a photo of the new marquee up shortly.
Go to the library and look for a book titled “The Best Remaining Seats” by Ben Hall. It has pretty much all the information you could possibly need on the Roxy.
The original stage was said to be very innovative; an opening day article in the Tribune says, “A new feature in theater construction is introduced in the revolving stage, which allows one act to be in progress while two others are in preparation behind the scenes, the stage itself moving up, down, or sideways under motor power directed by a controller.” Incidentally, the restoration did not actually retain the original colors, opting instead for a more subdued version; however, the bright, jewel-like colors were consistently touted as one of the more interesting features of the theater upon its original opening.
Here’s a bit more on the yoga studio – “Mike and John are hopeful that their second studio, located in Lincoln Park, will open during the first quarter of this year. The new studio will occupy the second floor of the old Parkway Theatre on Clark Street at Diversey Avenue. The Parkway was built in the early 20th century as a vaudeville stage and later became popular as a movie theatre for classic, foreign and independently produced films. The partners are committed to restoring as much of the original building as possible. The studio features old oak floors, Ionic columns and a 20-foot ceiling with elaborate decorative plaster work. A dropped greenhouse roof will capture natural light while protecting the original plaster details from the heat and humidity. The new studio also will have a locker room and showers.” – http://www.yogachicago.com/jan04/bikram.shtml
The balcony space has been converted to a Bikram Yoga studio. Some of the decor remains intact, although it looks like substantial renovation was necessary. Their website is www.bycic.com but does not mention the theater.
And the corrected link to the old lobby photo above is here
Yeah, but they didn’t even replicate that accurately. It’s simplified from the old design, the proportions are off, and the neon on the sides is missing. You’d think that having the original it could have been replicated easily…
I checked out the Resale Store today, it seems to have just opened. It looks like any renovations that had made it a smaller theater, or bowling lanes, or any of that have been removed and the auditorium is fully open. It’s very interesting. Much of the plaster and tropical murals are badly damaged, but it’s pretty neat and something you don’t see often. I definitely reccomend checking this out for any Chicago theater fans.
The Randolph was directly next to the Iroquois. For many years later, it was the site of the Old Heidelberg German restaurant. About 10 years ago, the property was redeveloped and the site is presently an Argo Tea. It had been the Noble Fool Theater for a couple years. The Apollo was the theater directly next to the Garrick. The site was redeveloped in the 1950s into a Greyhound Depot, which, along with the Garrick site, is now part of the Chicago Title and Trust center. The RKO Grand was on the site of Daley Plaza.
Oddly it’s now open as the Brown Elephant Resale Store. I guess the theater thing fell through? When I made my post last month, a tile entry had been laid that read “Brown Elephant”. I was wondering what that was.
The Depaulia newspaper printed an article on the Biograph project this week; it is not online yet, but it included several photos showing the project. The theatre is indeed 100% gutted. Quote VG’s head, Dennis Zacek, “We are doing our best to move forward past this particular period in Chicago history.” Which begs the question, Why move into a historic landmark?
CHI74: A 1996 article in the Tribune about a certain architectural salvage firm in Chicago, Ziggurat (I don’t think they exist anymore) mentions that they had the elephant chairs. They exist, somewhere. I’m surprised they weren’t acquired by the Oriental, since the restoration was occuring then. Maybe they were removed DURING the restoration? That would seem odd, but considering the timeframe…
The Cine' was built in 1937 and was one of Rapp & Rapp’s later designs. A theater at this location was a long time in coming; in 1928, plans to build a 1.5 million, 2,500 seat theater one block east, at the NE corner of Devon and Campbell, designed by JEO Pridmore as the first talkie-only in the city, for Sam Meyers. These plans probably eventually evolved into the Nortown. Fall 1936 brought a flurry of cinema activity to the area- A 1,200 seat theater was announced to be built directly north of the Nortown, Sam Meyers announced plans for the $200,000, 1,200 seat Cine' (initially, ‘Maple’, and later to have been named by contest) at Devon and Maplewood, and Balaban and Katz announced their intention to build a $200,000, 1,500 seat theater, designed by JEO Pridmore at the Devon-Campbell site. Those plans were abandoned a month later – after excavation had started – because of difficulty obtaining needed land by removing an alley (perhaps the reason why the Nortown was not built there), and B&K and Meyers decided to partner in the Cine'. It originally featured a large glass block rainbow light pylon as a vertical sign, since removed. Other features touted were indirect lighting, rainbow glass walls, a crystal grand staircase and full air conditioning; opening ads touded its' rich simplicity, modern comfort, and lounge-like seats. Also, ‘owing to poor subsoil conditions, the boiler room (was to be) placed over the lobby instead of beneath the theater’, and the original drawing shows the shops as a single-story building. It opened September 4, 1937. In 1942 B&K bought out Sam Meyers' portion of the lease. After only 15 years in operation, it closed in 1953, and was converted to the Turner Brothers clothing store. None of the original theater is visible inside the restaurant (although it is quite tasty). Also, here is the new address for the photo Bryan linked earlier.
In 1985, the theater’s mob-figure owner, Patsy Riccardi, turned up dead in a car trunk. At the time, it was still a porno theater and had been open since 1969, so I would assume the interior was intact. However, in 1958 the theater completely flooded over 10 days, so much that water was flowing out of the doors following a bad water main disconnection, so much of the interior was probably badly damaged then. It was remodeled to switch to a strip club in 1991
The theater building was or is owned by Lou Wolf, one of the city’s most notorious slumlords, who is behind the destruction by neglect of many Chicago theaters and buildings.
Oh, I didn’t know that- how interesting!
Really? Where did you find that out? I looked all over looking for information and couldn’t find anything until Dennis told me that. Newhouse was often the architect for the Ascher Brothers; I don’t know of any Ascher theaters from the Rapps. Very interesting!
Some other bits of the Portage’s history that have gone unmentioned here so far: During construction, the Portage was at the center of a Union extortion case involving the theater’s door installations; In 1929 the Aschers sold this and several other theaters of theirs to Fox; in 1932 it was turned over to the GCS circuit and recieved some remodeling, redecorating, and new seats; about 1940, it recieved its streamline moderne lobby, in accordance with the art deco character of Six Corners following the Klee and Sears buildings, and also had a very pretty art deco marquee and vitrolite/cararra glass entrance; in 1941 it became part of the Balaban and Katz chain, then abc/great states; by 1975 it was part of the Brotman & Sherman chain, then it was VERY briefly a live house called the Portage Palace, hosting country acts such as Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn… and those were the only two before booker Bob Briggs was tossed out and future shows cancelled. They tried again in 1977 with a Eddie Money/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show, but that was all. M&R took over in 1980 and briefly experimented with a laser light show before twinning the Portage.
Also, Dennis says that the Architect was Henry Newhouse.
From this week’s Chicago Reader ‘The Business’ column: “The Silent Film Society was booted from the Gateway Theatre a year ago, but expects to inaugurate a new home base this spring at the Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee. Film Society head and former Gateway manager Dennis Wolkowicz is one of three members of a management team that has taken a long-term lease (with option to buy) on the 85-year-old Portage. Wolkowicz says they spiffed it up, returned it to a single auditorium format, and are just awaiting (what else?) the PPA license. It’ll have 1,350 seats and will offer live music and talkiesâ€"classic, revival, independent, documentary, and foreign moviesâ€"along with the silent films.”
It looks wonderful and I eagerly await its opening.
Yes, there were, at total opposite ends of the street, and both by the same architect. And it was indeed built in 1911. The 1872 Adelphi was elsewhere in the loop, and was better known as Haverly’s, once the largest in Chicago, at Monroe and Dearborn. That theater had a rather interesting history. It was built following the fire using the outer walls of the old custom-house. It seated around 2500, a rickety firetrap with only two exits for the balconies and galleries accessible via crooked stairs, was rebuilt in 1878 and closed in 1882, replaced by a new Haverly’s theater across the street, incidentally, known as the Columbia, which later burned. Perhaps Mr. Woods, who remodeled the 1911 Columbia into the Adelphi was alluding to this earlier prominent theater.
It had 1250 seats as a single for the Center Theaters chain who also owned the Edens), and opened November 10, 1972. It was billed as a ‘Return to Elegance’ and early reports said the lobby would be decorated in “funky 1930s Roxy-theater style complete with swans swimming in the pool.” The lobby also featured various artworks meant to evoke classic movie palaces. Incidentally, one of the owners was named Robert Lubliner. I’ll bet he was a relation of Lubliner & Trinz. Cineplex took over Lubliner’s Center Theaters (McClurg and Edens) in 1987.
The Admiral was originally to be named the Ritz and to open in April, 1925; it opened exactly two years later, on March 31, 1927.
It was actually opened on April 4, 1931. An interesting fact about the ceiling:
“The star studded sky that will compose the auditorium ceiling og the new Publix-Balaban & Katz theater, the Nortown, which is to be opened at Devon and Western avenues on April 4, is to be an exact duplication of an April constellation, according to J. E. O. Pridmore, supervising architect. J. C. Penn, astronomy professor at Armour institute, was commissioned to put the stars in their proper places to insure that the layout would be authentic.” -Chicago Tribune, pG5, March 22, 1931.
The present theater space, as I understand it, is the old balcony space and part of the auditorium, the ground floor and stage having been destroyed, and now seats 160.
Well, this marquee IS plainer than the one they took down. They probably could have replicated the old one just as easily and added the lettering there. Also, notice they did not put back the long-missing neon on the facade on either side of the marquee. And the poster cases look different, too. See this photo. At least it wasn’t demolished, I guess, even if none of the 1913 building really survives. I’ll try to get a photo of the new marquee up shortly.
http://www.skokienet.org/centenn/ch4sec2.htm Has some background info on the early Essanay Westerns and the theater’s relationship.
Rather, I should have emailed him that, had I been looking closely…
Go to the library and look for a book titled “The Best Remaining Seats” by Ben Hall. It has pretty much all the information you could possibly need on the Roxy.
The original stage was said to be very innovative; an opening day article in the Tribune says, “A new feature in theater construction is introduced in the revolving stage, which allows one act to be in progress while two others are in preparation behind the scenes, the stage itself moving up, down, or sideways under motor power directed by a controller.” Incidentally, the restoration did not actually retain the original colors, opting instead for a more subdued version; however, the bright, jewel-like colors were consistently touted as one of the more interesting features of the theater upon its original opening.
Here’s a bit more on the yoga studio – “Mike and John are hopeful that their second studio, located in Lincoln Park, will open during the first quarter of this year. The new studio will occupy the second floor of the old Parkway Theatre on Clark Street at Diversey Avenue. The Parkway was built in the early 20th century as a vaudeville stage and later became popular as a movie theatre for classic, foreign and independently produced films. The partners are committed to restoring as much of the original building as possible. The studio features old oak floors, Ionic columns and a 20-foot ceiling with elaborate decorative plaster work. A dropped greenhouse roof will capture natural light while protecting the original plaster details from the heat and humidity. The new studio also will have a locker room and showers.” – http://www.yogachicago.com/jan04/bikram.shtml
Also this page features a Photo of the space.
The balcony space has been converted to a Bikram Yoga studio. Some of the decor remains intact, although it looks like substantial renovation was necessary. Their website is www.bycic.com but does not mention the theater.
And the corrected link to the old lobby photo above is here
Yeah, but they didn’t even replicate that accurately. It’s simplified from the old design, the proportions are off, and the neon on the sides is missing. You’d think that having the original it could have been replicated easily…
I checked out the Resale Store today, it seems to have just opened. It looks like any renovations that had made it a smaller theater, or bowling lanes, or any of that have been removed and the auditorium is fully open. It’s very interesting. Much of the plaster and tropical murals are badly damaged, but it’s pretty neat and something you don’t see often. I definitely reccomend checking this out for any Chicago theater fans.
Also, photos of most of these from the THSA archives can be seen at the Corner Bakery location on the site
The Randolph was directly next to the Iroquois. For many years later, it was the site of the Old Heidelberg German restaurant. About 10 years ago, the property was redeveloped and the site is presently an Argo Tea. It had been the Noble Fool Theater for a couple years. The Apollo was the theater directly next to the Garrick. The site was redeveloped in the 1950s into a Greyhound Depot, which, along with the Garrick site, is now part of the Chicago Title and Trust center. The RKO Grand was on the site of Daley Plaza.
Before the Heidelberg, there was a theatre called Randolph, besides that, there were the Apollo, RKO Grand, and the Palace.
Oddly it’s now open as the Brown Elephant Resale Store. I guess the theater thing fell through? When I made my post last month, a tile entry had been laid that read “Brown Elephant”. I was wondering what that was.
The Depaulia newspaper printed an article on the Biograph project this week; it is not online yet, but it included several photos showing the project. The theatre is indeed 100% gutted. Quote VG’s head, Dennis Zacek, “We are doing our best to move forward past this particular period in Chicago history.” Which begs the question, Why move into a historic landmark?
CHI74: A 1996 article in the Tribune about a certain architectural salvage firm in Chicago, Ziggurat (I don’t think they exist anymore) mentions that they had the elephant chairs. They exist, somewhere. I’m surprised they weren’t acquired by the Oriental, since the restoration was occuring then. Maybe they were removed DURING the restoration? That would seem odd, but considering the timeframe…