Glen Theater
20 W. Ridge Road,
Gary,
IN
46408
20 W. Ridge Road,
Gary,
IN
46408
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Related Websites
Glen Theater (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Y. & W. Management Corp.
Functions: Live Theater, Movies (Film Festivals), Special Events
Previous Names: Ridge Theater
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
219.985.8256
Manager:
219.887.2046
Nearby Theaters
The Ridge Theater sat just off the corner of Broadway Avenue on W. Ridge Road in the Glen Park district in the south of Gary, IN. It opened in late-1941. It was renovated in 1968, reopening as the Glen Theatre with Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire” starring Tommy Steele. The theater was an instant success playing first run and revival films. Some weekends they would have kid shows in the mornings and action films for midnight shows. The Glen Theater most often played the first run Walt Disney films of the 1970’s. I can remember going to see “Sword in the Stone”, “The Apple Dumpling Gang”, “Herbie Rides Again”, and “One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing”.
Sometimes they would play first run action films that would show up at the area drive-ins. I can remember seeing “Race with the Devil” there. The Glen’s biggest attraction came relatively early in its life when they showed “Airport” for 10 weeks. In the mid-1970’s the Glen Theater started experimenting with X-rated films and by 1977 had gone to porno altogether. The theater closed in 1981 amid gang activity and violence in the area.
In 1983 a Bible group reopened the Glen Theater to show religious films such as “Ben-Hur” and “The Ten Commandments”. That failed miserably and the doors closed for good just a month later. The marquee said, ‘Reopening Soon’ and stayed that way for almost twenty years.
The last time I drove by the marquee was blank and a big sign on the boarded-up door said the building was going to be renovated for a public theater sight for the future. The Glen Theater re-opened October 13, 2007 with a concert by Soul singer Deniece Williams. It will be a live performance theatre catering mainly the African-American population. It had closed by March 2016. By November 2017 it was hosting special events, a film festival and live theater by a community group.
Contributed by
John
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Recent comments (view all 37 comments)
JRS40: The theater around the corner on Broadway was the Roxy, not the Ridge. The Glen was called the Ridge when it opened. Your older brothers told you, and that’s how I found out that the Ridge and the Glen were the same theater.
augie53: This theater was opened as the Ridge Theatre in very late 1941 or very early 1942. It was probably renamed the Glen Theatre after a 1968 remodeling. See my earlier comment here for citations.
Joe – you are absolutely right. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote that.
JRS: Do you know anything about the building at 2224 Broadway? It now houses a social club, but it looks very much like it might have been a theater at one time. Cinema Treasures has nothing listed for the address, and I can’t find anything about it on the Internet.
Also, this old building at 17th and Broadway looks like a former theater. The building still appears in Street View, taken in August, 2011, but the lot appears to be vacant in the satellite view, which is probably more recent, so I think it must have been demolished since the Street View was made.
Unfortunately I don’t know anything about either building Joe. They appear to have been around for many, many years. There are very few theaters I have memories of in Gary….even past ones.
Status should be closed. Website down. Person who answered phone said it was closed.
Status should be changed. Facebook page showing events this fall.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glen-Theatre/108142455894371
Here’s a brief item about the Ridge Theatre from The Film Daily of July 3, 1941:
An opening before the end of 1941 seems very likely.Primarily used for performances by a community theater group.
V.U. Young, Y&W Management Corp. president, announced plans to build the Ridge in 1941. In 1968 Y&W did a complete $50,000 renovation of the Ridge and reopened it as the Glen. Vern Young, Y&W president in 1968 and V.U. Young’s grandson, presided over the grand opening alongside the Glen’s architect and Ray Howard, Y&W district manager. In the remodel the auditorium received 602 new blue seats laid out in a 7-14-7 configuration. The lower sidewalls were covered in matching blue fabric. Pleated gold drapery covered the upper sidewalls and screen. The lobby, restrooms and box office were also updated. The building’s front was redone with brick topped by tall, charcoal gray vertical siding. The marquee was trimmed in brushed aluminum and the vertical was redecorated. The Glen offered an 8 P.M. show each week night and two shows on weekends. Children had to be accompanied by an adult guardian. The Glen was very popular and might have survived longer had it not been for General Cinema. In 1972 and 1973 GC opened six screens nearby: two west on Ridge Road, two south on Broadway and two in Miller.