I’d always wondered that too, and when I decided to track it down today, I realized that this must have been it. I had a friend who had worked at the alley, but he was unable to find out if it had been one either. Today I decided to track it down, and I had the most difficult time figuring it out once I realized the address was incorrect, until I realized ‘Claremont’ was a contraction, so I figured it must be in very close proximity, and the Alley certainly fits the image of a 1913, 624 seat house to a T. Thank you for finding that Granada link too- very interesting.
I believe the correct address for the Claremont, named for its proximity to the intersection of Clark and Belmont to be 3228 N. Clark street (a block down from the Buckingham. This is now home to the famed Alley alternative shopping complex. The facade is still very attractive and the ornate ceiling grilles inside are still intact.
The Buckingham, at Clark and Buckingham streets, now has loft condominums behind it, built in 1998. A sporting goods store and a bank are housed in the storefronts. The facade is quite nicely preserved, and the building pays homage to its roots with concrete signs above its garage entrances reading “BVCKINGHAM BVILDING” and “BVCKINGHAM THEATRE”.
Richard, do you have any idea when the Mode recieved its current facade? I only see a sliver of yellow tiling near the top. And do you know how much longer it will be standing? There has been a sign advertising the “Lakeview Station” condo development presumably for that site for some time. It looks like it was last used to sell seating from Wrigley Field. I hope I get a chance to see inside this building before it is demolished. What was it like inside?
I don’t think the ‘sunken auditorium’ Benjamin describes is at all uncommon- how many theatres have you been in where you have to step up into the lobby or orchestra level? I can’t think of any.
I suspect there’s an interesting story behind the way the State-Lake ended up today, and I believe it has carried an important historical role in the development of television. I’ve heard it said that this was Balaban & Katz' home office. Now, Balaban & Katz was purchased by the nationwide Paramount chain, which in 1949 spun off its theaters into the United Paramount chain as a result of the consent decrees. Under Paramount’s ownership, Balaban & Katz had started the early Chicago television station WBKB Channel 4 in 1939, the second electronic television station, and Chicago’s first commercial station (http://www.chicagotelevision.com/WBKB.htm). This operated out of studios in the State-Lake building. In 1951, ABC merged with United Paramount, creating the ABC Theatres chain, and getting ABC off the ground as a television station. Now, since Paramount owned WBKB 4 and ABC owned WENR 7 in Chicago, FCC regulations forced the sale of WBKB, which was aquired by CBS and renamed WBBM, and soon moved to Channel 2. Subsequently, ABC dropped the WENR call sign and renamed to WBKB 7, which moved back to the State-Lake despite the fact that it was actually a different station (the old WBKB talent stayed with WBBM, which broadcast from the State-Lake until 1956, after which WBKB returned to the State-Lake, retaining the original WBKB management, and getting much of its programming back. As far as I can surmise, in the interim WBKB operated out of its other studios at the Garrick Theatre). (http://www.chicagotelevision.com/WBKBX2.htm, http://www.chicagotelevision.com/frazier.htm)) During this time, Henry Plitt was president of ABC’s syndication and production arms (http://print.google.com/print/doc?articleid=pWCxwY097eF) and in 1973 he bought the northern ABC Great States theaters, renaming them Plitt, and absorbing the southern ABC theaters in 1978. As a building housing both television studios and a movie theatre, the state-lake provides an interesting look at the shift from movies to tv.
The ‘Here’s’ link is working again. http://www.chicagotelevision.com/wbkbgarrick2.jpg shows a sketch of the Marquee from the early 50s, when the Garrick was serving as Television studios for shows like Garfield Goose. This is the marquee which obscured the busts in the above photographs.
It should be noted that Plitt was the successor corporation to ABC Great States, so the only real transfer of ownership as a theatre was from RKO to B&K.
I can’t imagine how it was voted best. I suppose he pickings were pretty slim in 1993 though. Tickets are cheap, but the slope of the floors is almost non-existant, it has no architectual flair whatsoever, even compared to other Regals, and the cleaning lights were on through all the previews. Pretty lame. What’s with Regal cranking the volume up to uncomfortable levels in all their theaters?
The Glen Art’s official website is http://glenarttheatre.com/ and includes another early picture of the theatre. View link Shows a night view of the picture, and the ebay offerings gallery on the same page includes the above postcard and an alternate view.
The theater was built by the same firm that built the des plaines, catlow and deerpath theaters, the latter two of which share many exterior similarities. From the looks of it, I would guess the 60s modernization craze took its toll on the Glen. In the photo on this page you can see details like divided-pane windows, scrollwork over the brick, and detailed columns adding to the unusual tudor revival look. In the current photos, the brick has been replaced with plain, non-matching brick, one-over-one windows, storefronts modernized. A shame it’s lost so much of its architectual integrity.
Jazz Age Chicago shows this as having once been named Esthena
Photos here: View link
I’d always wondered that too, and when I decided to track it down today, I realized that this must have been it. I had a friend who had worked at the alley, but he was unable to find out if it had been one either. Today I decided to track it down, and I had the most difficult time figuring it out once I realized the address was incorrect, until I realized ‘Claremont’ was a contraction, so I figured it must be in very close proximity, and the Alley certainly fits the image of a 1913, 624 seat house to a T. Thank you for finding that Granada link too- very interesting.
I believe the correct address for the Claremont, named for its proximity to the intersection of Clark and Belmont to be 3228 N. Clark street (a block down from the Buckingham. This is now home to the famed Alley alternative shopping complex. The facade is still very attractive and the ornate ceiling grilles inside are still intact.
The Buckingham, at Clark and Buckingham streets, now has loft condominums behind it, built in 1998. A sporting goods store and a bank are housed in the storefronts. The facade is quite nicely preserved, and the building pays homage to its roots with concrete signs above its garage entrances reading “BVCKINGHAM BVILDING” and “BVCKINGHAM THEATRE”.
Richard, do you have any idea when the Mode recieved its current facade? I only see a sliver of yellow tiling near the top. And do you know how much longer it will be standing? There has been a sign advertising the “Lakeview Station” condo development presumably for that site for some time. It looks like it was last used to sell seating from Wrigley Field. I hope I get a chance to see inside this building before it is demolished. What was it like inside?
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=4660 This is one of the most hideous, garish theaters i’ve ever had the displeasure to see photos of.
From the description, this lounge area sounds similar to the setup in the Chicago Riviera
The Straight Dope’s first column in the Chicago Reader, 1973, addressed the Bryn Mawr’s then-successful discount house plan. http://www.straightdope.com/faq/firstcolumn.html
I don’t think the ‘sunken auditorium’ Benjamin describes is at all uncommon- how many theatres have you been in where you have to step up into the lobby or orchestra level? I can’t think of any.
I always assumed the circle was an abc sign, I don’t know the ownership history of the Portage, though.
I suspect there’s an interesting story behind the way the State-Lake ended up today, and I believe it has carried an important historical role in the development of television. I’ve heard it said that this was Balaban & Katz' home office. Now, Balaban & Katz was purchased by the nationwide Paramount chain, which in 1949 spun off its theaters into the United Paramount chain as a result of the consent decrees. Under Paramount’s ownership, Balaban & Katz had started the early Chicago television station WBKB Channel 4 in 1939, the second electronic television station, and Chicago’s first commercial station (http://www.chicagotelevision.com/WBKB.htm). This operated out of studios in the State-Lake building. In 1951, ABC merged with United Paramount, creating the ABC Theatres chain, and getting ABC off the ground as a television station. Now, since Paramount owned WBKB 4 and ABC owned WENR 7 in Chicago, FCC regulations forced the sale of WBKB, which was aquired by CBS and renamed WBBM, and soon moved to Channel 2. Subsequently, ABC dropped the WENR call sign and renamed to WBKB 7, which moved back to the State-Lake despite the fact that it was actually a different station (the old WBKB talent stayed with WBBM, which broadcast from the State-Lake until 1956, after which WBKB returned to the State-Lake, retaining the original WBKB management, and getting much of its programming back. As far as I can surmise, in the interim WBKB operated out of its other studios at the Garrick Theatre). (http://www.chicagotelevision.com/WBKBX2.htm, http://www.chicagotelevision.com/frazier.htm)) During this time, Henry Plitt was president of ABC’s syndication and production arms (http://print.google.com/print/doc?articleid=pWCxwY097eF) and in 1973 he bought the northern ABC Great States theaters, renaming them Plitt, and absorbing the southern ABC theaters in 1978. As a building housing both television studios and a movie theatre, the state-lake provides an interesting look at the shift from movies to tv.
What are the big letter sign and clock that you refer to?
The ‘Here’s’ link is working again. http://www.chicagotelevision.com/wbkbgarrick2.jpg shows a sketch of the Marquee from the early 50s, when the Garrick was serving as Television studios for shows like Garfield Goose. This is the marquee which obscured the busts in the above photographs.
http://www.cinergetics.com/theaclosed.htm Apparently there’s quite a number of them
The Marcus Addison converted its IMAX screen to a regular auditorium. I don’t know if there are others.
http://206.103.49.193/cta/htm/cta0176.htm Here is a photo from the el station showing the side of the Howard circa 1997
http://www.trolleybuses.net/cta/htm/cta1226.htm is the new URL for that link
The first link Bryan posted is broken. The new URL is http://www.trolleybuses.net/cta/htm/cta1249.htm
That preservationist website made my head hurt.
It should be noted that Plitt was the successor corporation to ABC Great States, so the only real transfer of ownership as a theatre was from RKO to B&K.
I can’t imagine how it was voted best. I suppose he pickings were pretty slim in 1993 though. Tickets are cheap, but the slope of the floors is almost non-existant, it has no architectual flair whatsoever, even compared to other Regals, and the cleaning lights were on through all the previews. Pretty lame. What’s with Regal cranking the volume up to uncomfortable levels in all their theaters?
The Glen Art’s official website is http://glenarttheatre.com/ and includes another early picture of the theatre.
View link Shows a night view of the picture, and the ebay offerings gallery on the same page includes the above postcard and an alternate view.
The theater was built by the same firm that built the des plaines, catlow and deerpath theaters, the latter two of which share many exterior similarities. From the looks of it, I would guess the 60s modernization craze took its toll on the Glen. In the photo on this page you can see details like divided-pane windows, scrollwork over the brick, and detailed columns adding to the unusual tudor revival look. In the current photos, the brick has been replaced with plain, non-matching brick, one-over-one windows, storefronts modernized. A shame it’s lost so much of its architectual integrity.
Actually, it is. The facade has been modernized somewhat. http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=6473