Shots of the exterior of the theater from 10/11/2008. The area was a mosquito infested mess as there are pools of water and trash blocking each of the emergency exit crash doors that are located down long ramps on each side of the theater.
I would like to state that Rocky Horror crowds do not equal a destroyed theater. My cast of Midnight Madness performs in Chicago’s beautiful Music Box Theater and we work very hard to make sure that our theater does not sustain any damage and is kept clean.
Randall,
It’s easy to stand up on a soapbox and preach down to the invisible readers of the internet that we should all rise up do something, and it’s far easier to preach when something is after the fact.
Your posts would not have been relevant in this situation if the building were still standing today. The idea of adaptive reuse did not fit in with the plans the owner had for the location.
If you would like to issue diatribes as to how the cost of preservation efforts for commercial and residential properties can be partially offset by the tax laws of the US government, I am sure that there are plenty of places where your views would be welcomed and relevant. This specific Nortown location is not an appropriate place for this discussion and continuing to spew out information on “saving†properties is a slap in the face to all of the people on the Nortown list who loved this theater. We are all already heartsick over her loss. I am sure that there is a forum somewhere on Cinema Treasures where this topic is appropriate, but this isn’t it.
If you would like to continue to update this list on the progress of your art deco comedy/tragedy masks I could imagine that would be
I believe (but could be wrong) that the restoration was headed by the same people who restored the Cadillac Palace. It is not nearly as ornate as the Cadillac Palace and the lobby and entrance, while enlarged by a glassed in mud lobby are rather smallish.
The lobby chandelier is said to have originally hung in the long-ago demolished Orpheum in Seattle. Damaged by a fire and then demolished the owner boxed the chandelier and kept it in his garage until it was called on to grace the Genesee.
The round chandeliers in this picture (third from the right in the auditorium pictures) are said to have
come from a theater called the “Marboro”, but I think that they meant the Marbro that was demolished long ago on the West Side of Chicago. View link
Curiouskate,
There are indeed plans to reinstall the organ. After speaking with people involved with the theater, the problem with the organ is related to the massive water damage that the theater sustained.
bing00,
I wouldn’t be concerned for the Patio at this point, as it is still a money generating property with the apartments and storefronts. The owner, AFAIK, is still waiting for a long term lease before proceeding any further with renovations on the theater. I just cruised around there and it’s locked up tight and has had any graffiti removed on a regular basis.
Nortown –
The add image feature is not currently working on this site. In order to show your photos you have to host them on your own site and set up a page for viewing to link to.
You can see that I link to my LJ pages and host on my own server.
I’m glad that urbanremains was able to help you out!
Thank you eric.
I will be in touch. Lighting is much better for photos during the day and it is much nicer to walk in with a tripod and actual real camera gear to shoot. :)
Nortown,
From what I have heard the urbanremains people are very gracious when it comes to their salvages and are very conscious of the fact that they are handling pieces of peoples memories as they salvage pieces of buildings that otherwise would be unceremoniously pissed away with the wrecking ball.
Perhaps if you contact them directly they may be able to help you out?
They have a website http://urbanremainschicago.com/
I was actually watching them through the fence while they were setting up the lighting and the camera/tripod for the photo that currently graces their front page.
While it is entirely heartbreaking to watch a theater that actually had rehab potential be knocked down to be replaced with condos (and oh the irony! a three screen bollywood theater), it would be even more heartbreaking to watch the proscenium come down in pieces and be ground into dust underneath the wrecking crews treads.
Urbanremains,
I would like to point out that the building is taking a lot of heavy damage from taggers and vandals, with more and more graffiti appearing every day. I think it likely that those who are destroying the plaster pieces are people who have no respect for the theater.
I highly doubt that anyone on the cinematreasures board would do anything other than treat the building with the utmost of respect and reverence. We are simply paying our last respects to a building that few have glimpsed the interior of in many a year.
I stop by there fairly frequently and the plywood wasn’t there one weekend and it was there the next with no evidence of fire, no smell of fire, and no scorch marks anywhere.
It sounds suspicious to me. Very, very suspicious.
Didn’t the Regal here in Chicago finally wind up getting knocked down after a suspicious fire in the late 70’s?
6 months later and still no condos being built on the site of the old Adelphi.
Still a raw wound in the earth, with not so much as an advertisement on the front of the scaffolding announcing “coming soon xxxxxxx condos”. :(
I’m supercharger96. waves
The owner of the Nortown is seeking a Zoning change at a hearing expected to be on October 19th. The owner wants to demolish it because “the numbers don’t work” to keep it as a theater. He plans to replace it with condos and two small theaters to show pakistani movies. View link
Alger Theater pictures. Taken 4/9/09.
Shots of the exterior of the theater from 10/11/2008. The area was a mosquito infested mess as there are pools of water and trash blocking each of the emergency exit crash doors that are located down long ramps on each side of the theater.
I would like to state that Rocky Horror crowds do not equal a destroyed theater. My cast of Midnight Madness performs in Chicago’s beautiful Music Box Theater and we work very hard to make sure that our theater does not sustain any damage and is kept clean.
I shot some pictures of the Sun. View them here from 10/11/2008.
Here are some pictures from 2/4/2008 which I had forgotten to post.
Exterior and interior shots from 10/11/08.
Shots from 8/30/08.
Pictures of the exterior and interior of the Calo Theater from 10/13/07.
Click here for the set:
http://supercharger96.livejournal.com/13738.html
Randall,
It’s easy to stand up on a soapbox and preach down to the invisible readers of the internet that we should all rise up do something, and it’s far easier to preach when something is after the fact.
Your posts would not have been relevant in this situation if the building were still standing today. The idea of adaptive reuse did not fit in with the plans the owner had for the location.
If you would like to issue diatribes as to how the cost of preservation efforts for commercial and residential properties can be partially offset by the tax laws of the US government, I am sure that there are plenty of places where your views would be welcomed and relevant. This specific Nortown location is not an appropriate place for this discussion and continuing to spew out information on “saving†properties is a slap in the face to all of the people on the Nortown list who loved this theater. We are all already heartsick over her loss. I am sure that there is a forum somewhere on Cinema Treasures where this topic is appropriate, but this isn’t it.
If you would like to continue to update this list on the progress of your art deco comedy/tragedy masks I could imagine that would be
I believe (but could be wrong) that the restoration was headed by the same people who restored the Cadillac Palace. It is not nearly as ornate as the Cadillac Palace and the lobby and entrance, while enlarged by a glassed in mud lobby are rather smallish.
The lobby chandelier is said to have originally hung in the long-ago demolished Orpheum in Seattle. Damaged by a fire and then demolished the owner boxed the chandelier and kept it in his garage until it was called on to grace the Genesee.
The round chandeliers in this picture (third from the right in the auditorium pictures) are said to have
come from a theater called the “Marboro”, but I think that they meant the Marbro that was demolished long ago on the West Side of Chicago.
View link
Curiouskate,
There are indeed plans to reinstall the organ. After speaking with people involved with the theater, the problem with the organ is related to the massive water damage that the theater sustained.
I had the luck to spend some time inside of this beautiful theater recently with some lovely people.
Shots of her:
Exterior.
View link
Stage. The stage was actually butted out further than the original during remodel.
View link
Lobby chandelier.
View link
Auditorium main chandelier.
View link
The auditorium.
View link
The auditorium, different angle.
View link
Original seat ends.
View link
bing00,
I wouldn’t be concerned for the Patio at this point, as it is still a money generating property with the apartments and storefronts. The owner, AFAIK, is still waiting for a long term lease before proceeding any further with renovations on the theater. I just cruised around there and it’s locked up tight and has had any graffiti removed on a regular basis.
Nortown –
The add image feature is not currently working on this site. In order to show your photos you have to host them on your own site and set up a page for viewing to link to.
You can see that I link to my LJ pages and host on my own server.
I’m glad that urbanremains was able to help you out!
Thank you eric.
I will be in touch. Lighting is much better for photos during the day and it is much nicer to walk in with a tripod and actual real camera gear to shoot. :)
Nortown,
From what I have heard the urbanremains people are very gracious when it comes to their salvages and are very conscious of the fact that they are handling pieces of peoples memories as they salvage pieces of buildings that otherwise would be unceremoniously pissed away with the wrecking ball.
Perhaps if you contact them directly they may be able to help you out?
They have a website
http://urbanremainschicago.com/
I was actually watching them through the fence while they were setting up the lighting and the camera/tripod for the photo that currently graces their front page.
While it is entirely heartbreaking to watch a theater that actually had rehab potential be knocked down to be replaced with condos (and oh the irony! a three screen bollywood theater), it would be even more heartbreaking to watch the proscenium come down in pieces and be ground into dust underneath the wrecking crews treads.
Urbanremains,
I would like to point out that the building is taking a lot of heavy damage from taggers and vandals, with more and more graffiti appearing every day. I think it likely that those who are destroying the plaster pieces are people who have no respect for the theater.
I highly doubt that anyone on the cinematreasures board would do anything other than treat the building with the utmost of respect and reverence. We are simply paying our last respects to a building that few have glimpsed the interior of in many a year.
Here are my pictures from last night.
http://supercharger96.livejournal.com/13193.html
I stop by there fairly frequently and the plywood wasn’t there one weekend and it was there the next with no evidence of fire, no smell of fire, and no scorch marks anywhere.
It sounds suspicious to me. Very, very suspicious.
Didn’t the Regal here in Chicago finally wind up getting knocked down after a suspicious fire in the late 70’s?
6 months later and still no condos being built on the site of the old Adelphi.
Still a raw wound in the earth, with not so much as an advertisement on the front of the scaffolding announcing “coming soon xxxxxxx condos”. :(
I’m supercharger96. waves
The owner of the Nortown is seeking a Zoning change at a hearing expected to be on October 19th. The owner wants to demolish it because “the numbers don’t work” to keep it as a theater. He plans to replace it with condos and two small theaters to show pakistani movies.
View link