Garden Theater
3424 Main Street,
East Chicago,
IN
46312
3424 Main Street,
East Chicago,
IN
46312
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The old Garden was built in 1918 as a silent movie house and showed films for eight decades. But as the neighborhood began to change, the theater’s fortunes grew dim. After years of struggling, the Garden Theatre finally closed. The theater was sold, resold and finally auctioned off in 2000 to its current owners.
One of the owners, Pete Torres, is from East Chicago and had plans to twin the theater and show English and Spanish-language films. Ultimately, though, the cost of repairs would have reached $500,000, and, without support from the city or other sources, the project became unfeasible.
The building languished into 2001 and in January it was declared structurally unsafe by the East Chicago Board of Public Works. Sadly, the city never declared the building a landmark and it was demolished.
With the destruction of the Garden Theatre, the last movie palace in the East Chicago area has faded into the past.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Just to set things straight, East Chicago is really across the state line and is in Indiana.
Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/r9hczd
At one time East Chicago was known as Indiana Harbor, IN.
The 1000-seat Garden Theatre stood at 3614 Main Street in the Indiana Harbor side of East Chicago, IN. It was built at a cost of $100,000 for James Piwaronas, a local grocer, by Indiana Harbor contractor James Johnston from plans drawn by Hammond, IN, architect George McClure (“Mac”) Turner. Construction started in May 1923 with a year-end target opening. The theater finally debuted July 24, 1924, seven months later than hoped. Piwaronas operated the theater until his death in 1979.
The Garden Theatre featured a $15,000 pipe organ, scientific ventilating and heating, lobby lights that were “a miniature replica of the fixtures used in the Chicago theater [and] decoration and ornamental work…copied from the various Balaban & Katz palaces of Chicago.” Decorator Supply Company of Chicago supplied ornamental work. Goldstein Decorators of Detroit installed the decorations.
Outside, a 25-foot sign illuminated the front as brightly as day. It had 30-inch-high letters. The building contained the theater, two stores and six offices.
The Garden Theatre re-launched December 6, 1929, with Vitaphone and Movietone talking pictures. The first offering was “Broadway Melody” with Bessie Love. From the mid-1950’s the showplace advertised as the New Garden Theatre. By 1981 it was the Cine Garden, presenting Spanish-language films.