Now, before you go back to pointing at the Gennessee as a warning sign, which seems to be one of your main arguments, why not consider wheter what you are saying is true? Is it in fact true that because one somewhat nearby theatre has gone over budget and hasn’t yet found its programming niche, that all theatres of all sizes in all communities must therefore be failures, if city-owned? Before jumping to any further conclusions, I suggest you investigate more than one example. Here, I even spent a couple minutes actually using the valuable resources of this site to find a few for you to look at. These are just a few examples of city-owned theatres. /theaters/21/ /theaters/235/ /theaters/710/ /theaters/2957/ /theaters/3085/ /theaters/7560/ /theaters/327/ /theaters/4729/ /theaters/2395/ /theaters/1224/ /theaters/8765/ /theaters/2513/ /theaters/6927/ /theaters/4498/
Your arguments may be able to sway public opinion, but if you think that you can come to a community of people who care about and have knowledge about theatres and decieve us, you’re sorely mistaken.
Because certainly, all this negativity and lack of imagination could in no way affect their chances of success. Look. You go on and on about how the DuPage supporters didn’t have the money, and couldn’t do what they were trying to do. But with constant detractors like you, how can they possibly expect to raise money? It’s this kind of negative NIMBYism that keeps people from taking action in the first place. If people start thinking there’s no reason for them to contribute, that their effort will be hopeless, they’re not going to try to make something of it. Projects like this can only succeed if people approach the situation optimistically. It’s hard enough trying to preserve a building in the first place without an entire organization working against you. Let’s not even go into the practice of registering a similar domain name to the real website, or the way TIFs are actually used (hmm… Chicago used a TIF for its Theatre district, didn’t it? Somehow I don’t think that ticket sales bring all that much cash flow into city hall… but they couldn’t possibly know what they’re talking about) Don’t go around hailing yourself as some sort of heroic protector of the helpless taxpayer. There’s already enough people unwilling to pay a cent more that won’t directly help them- why don’t you take up the cause of the elderly paying for schools as part of their taxes? They certainly don’t go to school; why should they have to pay?
I don’t know… but I certainly agree that we should save some! After all, so many are gone already that we should try to save the few that are left. I wouldn’t say it’s so much like trying to drive a Model T down the Kennedy as it is to say, driving a Dusenberg down the Kennedy instead of a Honda- certainly not the most modern way, nor the most economical, but overall a vastly superior experience.
R&R had a few earlier theaters, like the Al Ringling and Bryn Mawr, and one of the brothers worked on the Shubert/Majestic. It was the second B&K/R&R collaboration though, after the Central Park.
Bryan, i’m not sure if you noticed but the photos on the cinematour site are somewhat newer, it looks like the marquee’s been painted (rather less attractively). It’s a little too… ketchup and mustard for my taste. It looks from your picture that some paint was desperately needed at the time.
Hm… from a business standpoint, which movie theater in an ethnically diverse area will do better? One that shows movies catering to the two largest groups, or one? Which group is larger, the xenophobes who are afraid of words they don’t understand, or the minority with no alternative venue. Gee… this is a tricky one.
And isn’t it simply appalling how opera houses are now projecting subtitles for their operas? If you want to understand opera, you should learn the language!
The Riviera is located at an odd intersection, three streets intersect at one place, Broadway, Racine, and Lawrence- you can see this in the mapquest link. Commercial traffic is primarily on Broadway and Lawrence- Racine is just a splinter following the path of Broadway, were it to continue straight instead of detouring into a diagonal. There’s not really any traffic on the Racine side (residential), and from any apporach you can see one of the sides of the attraction board, which is presumably why they didn’t bother adding a third one. Kinda unpleasantly asymmetrical though. I think they might’ve done some work on the marquee recently, it’s almost fully lit and looks like it’s in really nice shape. Unfortunately, I was incorrect earlier; there hasn’t been any further interior restoration. It’s still in the terribly ugly scheme of purple, black, gild, and green, with some parts still in a 60s beige and marbleized yellow, and still other parts in different colors. And the murals are barely legible from the years of smoke and dirt… the place is really begging for some TLC. But at least it’s standing and restorable. I hope the city comes through and buys it or the uptown. Anyone know what the proscenium was like? It has a lot of openings and looks like neon (?!) covering some of it… were the organ chambers in the proscenium? Also interesting to note is the prescence of a number of parts from the demolished Granada- there are a number of seats in the upper balcony, and I believe the chandeliers in the auditorium and lobby.
This was also in a number of Seinfeld episodes- Jerry making out at Schindler’s List, where Elaine bought candy after her boyfriend was in a car accident, and where they planned to see ‘Firestorm’
Nice attitude there. You know very well that this site isn’t about publicity. There are theaters of all shapes and sizes on this site. Don’t forget that these ‘crapholes’ are still very closely related to the first nickelodeons. And they’re important too because this is where most people choose to be entertained now, and they show us what we’ve lost. So before you go around being our censor, try getting off your high horse.
View link
“Return of the diva. Photo by Mel Larson, February 19, 1960.
Josephine Baker makes up backstage for an appearance at South Side’s Regal Theater.”
Oh, that’s too bad. The photos look like the place had some real potential, and some very interesting deco/streamline features. I especially LOVE the photos of the curtain being torn away, revealing the colorful deco work- I wonder what else those ugly crtains hid? Silly sixties ‘modernizations’. It sounds to me like if the back wall hadn’t been comprimised, the preservation might have succeeded- is that right?
There’s over 100 theaters on this site with more than 12 screens…
That said, it’s probably one of the better modern multiplexes, and one of the only ones I don’t dislike patronizing. Also, it shows a good amount of premieres, and it’s a venue for the Chicago Film Festival. I’d say it’s pretty significant.
I don’t have any interior photos of the theatre, because the roll of film was damaged. I do have a number of exterior shots though. The interior is pretty plain.
Here is a view down Dearborn towards Randolph with the Woods visible (as well as the Daley Center, entrance to the Dearborn Subway, and Marina Towers… phew! That’s a lot of Chicago in one photo! And this is that same view now.
Now, before you go back to pointing at the Gennessee as a warning sign, which seems to be one of your main arguments, why not consider wheter what you are saying is true? Is it in fact true that because one somewhat nearby theatre has gone over budget and hasn’t yet found its programming niche, that all theatres of all sizes in all communities must therefore be failures, if city-owned? Before jumping to any further conclusions, I suggest you investigate more than one example. Here, I even spent a couple minutes actually using the valuable resources of this site to find a few for you to look at. These are just a few examples of city-owned theatres.
/theaters/21/
/theaters/235/
/theaters/710/
/theaters/2957/
/theaters/3085/
/theaters/7560/
/theaters/327/
/theaters/4729/
/theaters/2395/
/theaters/1224/
/theaters/8765/
/theaters/2513/
/theaters/6927/
/theaters/4498/
Your arguments may be able to sway public opinion, but if you think that you can come to a community of people who care about and have knowledge about theatres and decieve us, you’re sorely mistaken.
Because certainly, all this negativity and lack of imagination could in no way affect their chances of success. Look. You go on and on about how the DuPage supporters didn’t have the money, and couldn’t do what they were trying to do. But with constant detractors like you, how can they possibly expect to raise money? It’s this kind of negative NIMBYism that keeps people from taking action in the first place. If people start thinking there’s no reason for them to contribute, that their effort will be hopeless, they’re not going to try to make something of it. Projects like this can only succeed if people approach the situation optimistically. It’s hard enough trying to preserve a building in the first place without an entire organization working against you. Let’s not even go into the practice of registering a similar domain name to the real website, or the way TIFs are actually used (hmm… Chicago used a TIF for its Theatre district, didn’t it? Somehow I don’t think that ticket sales bring all that much cash flow into city hall… but they couldn’t possibly know what they’re talking about) Don’t go around hailing yourself as some sort of heroic protector of the helpless taxpayer. There’s already enough people unwilling to pay a cent more that won’t directly help them- why don’t you take up the cause of the elderly paying for schools as part of their taxes? They certainly don’t go to school; why should they have to pay?
I don’t know… but I certainly agree that we should save some! After all, so many are gone already that we should try to save the few that are left. I wouldn’t say it’s so much like trying to drive a Model T down the Kennedy as it is to say, driving a Dusenberg down the Kennedy instead of a Honda- certainly not the most modern way, nor the most economical, but overall a vastly superior experience.
Since the photo was taken (April 2000) the Arrow has been demolished and a new building stands in its place.
R&R had a few earlier theaters, like the Al Ringling and Bryn Mawr, and one of the brothers worked on the Shubert/Majestic. It was the second B&K/R&R collaboration though, after the Central Park.
Firm should be Betts & Holcomb.
Firm should be Betts & Holcomb.
Bryan, i’m not sure if you noticed but the photos on the cinematour site are somewhat newer, it looks like the marquee’s been painted (rather less attractively). It’s a little too… ketchup and mustard for my taste. It looks from your picture that some paint was desperately needed at the time.
Hm… from a business standpoint, which movie theater in an ethnically diverse area will do better? One that shows movies catering to the two largest groups, or one? Which group is larger, the xenophobes who are afraid of words they don’t understand, or the minority with no alternative venue. Gee… this is a tricky one.
And isn’t it simply appalling how opera houses are now projecting subtitles for their operas? If you want to understand opera, you should learn the language!
View link Here’s a shot of the marquee with one of the political messages
A vintage photo of the cheverly is available on Library Congress, as “Griffith Consumers Co. Exterior of Cheverly Theater."
View link
Here is a picture of the Skokie in its (mostly) current form, from 1963
The Riviera is located at an odd intersection, three streets intersect at one place, Broadway, Racine, and Lawrence- you can see this in the mapquest link. Commercial traffic is primarily on Broadway and Lawrence- Racine is just a splinter following the path of Broadway, were it to continue straight instead of detouring into a diagonal. There’s not really any traffic on the Racine side (residential), and from any apporach you can see one of the sides of the attraction board, which is presumably why they didn’t bother adding a third one. Kinda unpleasantly asymmetrical though. I think they might’ve done some work on the marquee recently, it’s almost fully lit and looks like it’s in really nice shape. Unfortunately, I was incorrect earlier; there hasn’t been any further interior restoration. It’s still in the terribly ugly scheme of purple, black, gild, and green, with some parts still in a 60s beige and marbleized yellow, and still other parts in different colors. And the murals are barely legible from the years of smoke and dirt… the place is really begging for some TLC. But at least it’s standing and restorable. I hope the city comes through and buys it or the uptown. Anyone know what the proscenium was like? It has a lot of openings and looks like neon (?!) covering some of it… were the organ chambers in the proscenium? Also interesting to note is the prescence of a number of parts from the demolished Granada- there are a number of seats in the upper balcony, and I believe the chandeliers in the auditorium and lobby.
This was also in a number of Seinfeld episodes- Jerry making out at Schindler’s List, where Elaine bought candy after her boyfriend was in a car accident, and where they planned to see ‘Firestorm’
Nice attitude there. You know very well that this site isn’t about publicity. There are theaters of all shapes and sizes on this site. Don’t forget that these ‘crapholes’ are still very closely related to the first nickelodeons. And they’re important too because this is where most people choose to be entertained now, and they show us what we’ve lost. So before you go around being our censor, try getting off your high horse.
View link
“Return of the diva. Photo by Mel Larson, February 19, 1960.
Josephine Baker makes up backstage for an appearance at South Side’s Regal Theater.”
Here is a March 15, 1950 closeup of the Marquee, from the Sun-Times archive. View link
Oh, that’s too bad. The photos look like the place had some real potential, and some very interesting deco/streamline features. I especially LOVE the photos of the curtain being torn away, revealing the colorful deco work- I wonder what else those ugly crtains hid? Silly sixties ‘modernizations’. It sounds to me like if the back wall hadn’t been comprimised, the preservation might have succeeded- is that right?
There’s over 100 theaters on this site with more than 12 screens…
That said, it’s probably one of the better modern multiplexes, and one of the only ones I don’t dislike patronizing. Also, it shows a good amount of premieres, and it’s a venue for the Chicago Film Festival. I’d say it’s pretty significant.
Where is this ebay listing? I can’t find it.
I don’t have any interior photos of the theatre, because the roll of film was damaged. I do have a number of exterior shots though. The interior is pretty plain.
Here’s a link with photos of the theatre. View link
I guess the idea of cleaning up the street for the show really didn’t work out so well.
Here is a view down Dearborn towards Randolph with the Woods visible (as well as the Daley Center, entrance to the Dearborn Subway, and Marina Towers… phew! That’s a lot of Chicago in one photo!
And this is that same view now.
Here are a couple closeup shots from Chicago Uncommon:
View link
View link