Ogden Theatre
1619 W. 63rd Street,
Chicago,
IL
60636
1619 W. 63rd Street,
Chicago,
IL
60636
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From Paul Moore’s research notes: “1914.30 Hippodrome 1619 W. 63rd St. Arch: Linderoth, Lietz & Schmitz. (538 Seats). Open by 1914, to 1919.”
So the Hippodrome was definitely a smaller predecessor. I can’t find reference to Linderoth, Lietz & Schmitz but S. (Sven) Linderoth was definitely an architect.
American Contractor lists: S. Linderoth & Co.63d st. 1619 - 1621 WMrs. N.M. PeacheSeptember 7, 191257American Contractor
So the (Ashland) Hippodrome opened in 1913, 538 Seats, changed names to Atlas in about 1918, and was demolished in 1919 to make way for the West Englewood.
The Atlas name appears in at least a “Four Minute Men” list from 1918. I think the Hippodrome/Ashland Hippodrome/Atlas must have been a 299 seat type theater on the same site as it was not written about or advertised much at all. Most references to it are just lists of theaters showing serials. I can’t find anything about its construction. None of the articles about the construction of the West Englewood discuss remodeling an existing building.
This opened as the Ascher’s West Englewood on December 30th, 1920 and reopened by Warner Brothers as the Ogden theatre on September 4th, 1936 and closed in 1963. Grand opening ads posted. No ads found for the Atlas name.
The Hippodrome/Atlas must have been a very minor theatre on the site prior to the West Englewood, which was almost certainly built from scratch.
The 1915 ad linked by kencmcintyre says that the Marlowe Hippodrome Theatre was at 63rd Street and Stewart Avenue. The Hippodrome at 63rd and Ashland (or Marshfield) was a different house. I found a 1915 reference to a business at 1621 63rd in the Hippodrome Building, which would put it pretty close to the corner of Marshfield.
The West Englewood/Ogden must have been the proposed theater in this item from The American Contractor of October 4, 1919:
6301-11 Marshfield would be at the southeast corner of Marshfield and 63rd. Items in the same journal later that year indicate that contracts had been let and construction was underway before the end of 1919. An item in the August 28, 1920, issue of the Forest Park Review said that Ascher Bros. new Englewood Theatre at 63rd and Marshfield was expected to open by January 1, so by that time the project would have taken more than a year to complete.I’m not sure if the old Hippodrome was just extensively rebuilt or was demolished for Ascher Bros. West Englewood Theatre. One possibility would be that Ascher Bros. acquired several lots along Marshfield Avenue behind the Hippodrome and built an entirely new auditorium there, cutting a new lobby through the existing building to 63rd Street.
Ascher Bros. had opened the Columbus Theatre on Ashland just off 63rd in 1915, but it was only half the size of the Ogden. Most likely they found business too brisk for the smaller house and built this theater to replace it. The Columbus was closed in 1926.
In 1927, the West Englewood Theatre was one of three south side houses that Ascher Bros. sold to the National Theatres Corporation, according to an item in the March 1 issue of Suburbanite Economist. The others were the Colony, at 50th and Kedzie, and the Highland, at 70th and Ashland.
The principals of Pereira & Pereira, the firm that did the 1936 remodeling of the West Englewood Theatre, were William Pereira and Hal Pereira. Percival Pereira was an older architect who was never a member of this firm.
Spent many a Saturday afternoon at the Ogden in 1940, only needed 5 cents for the movie, and 5 cents for pop corn.
Here is a January 1915 ad from the Suburbanite Economist:
http://tinyurl.com/r83pb6
The first day of the demolition of the Ogden Theater was Friday, July 27, 1962, by the State Wrecking Company, 3415 So. Kedzie Avenue.
I believe this theater was known (even before it was the West Englewood) as the Hippodrome in 1910.
From the Chicago Sun Times movie listings dated Wednesday Oct. 9, 1957: OGDEN 1619 W. 63rd TOMORROW ON STAGE DR. JEKYL’S WEIRD SHOW MONSTERS RUN LOOSE IN THE AUDIENCE…GHOSTS SIT BY YOU…SEE JAMES DEAN MATERALIZED BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES…WE DARE YOU TO SEE IT. FREE PERFUME TO THE GIRLS. FREE 2 FOR 1 PASS FOR a FUTURE MOVIE. I was a kid clear across town at the time- but would have loved to be in Englewood that day. And James Dean??? Turns out “THE JAMES DEAN STORY” was playing that week at the nearby Southtown and many other neighborhood theatres,along with “SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS”.
I grew up going there-25 cartoons on Saturday afternoons-first time I saw scantily clad (for then) ladies at movies with my parents.
I watched the theater being torn down while I was in high school (Lindblom). The building was not built to be torn down. It took them months to get it down. The iron ball would take a swing at the auditorium wall and a few bricks would fall off.
CORRECTION—Second Line in hed should read:
to Be Entirely Remodeled
From the Chicago Tribune, August 2, 1936
West Englewood Theater
to Be Complete Remodeled
Another step in a modernization program for the nineteen theaters in the Warner Brothers Chicago circuit will be taken, according to James E. Coston, zone manager, when the West Englewood Theater, on 63rd Street near Ashland Avenue, will be completely remodeled at a cost of $75,000. It will also be renamed The Ogden. The playhouse will be closed after the last picture August 9, to permit B.B. Buchanan, theater consultant for Pereira & Pereira, architects, to assume charge of the work which will require three weeks. The entire front, lobby, and foyer will be done in the modern manner.
Here is an article from the Suburbanite Economist dated 3/26/61 concerning closure of the Ogden:
Old Ogden Theater Is Shut Down
Building Commissioner George Ramsey Friday condemned as unsafe the Ogden Theater at 1619 W. 63rd Street. This action came after complaints of zoning and building violations were filed by South Lynne Community Council and West Ogden Civic Improvement Association.
Last used six months ago for movies, the theater had been the scene all last week of “The Great Miracle Revivalâ€, which was marked by false fire alarms, four arrests for disorderly conduct and one for shooting fireworks. According to police reports, the theater has been leased by the religious group for four months with an option to renew.