Lakeside Theatre
4730 N. Sheridan Road,
Chicago,
IL
60640
4730 N. Sheridan Road,
Chicago,
IL
60640
5 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Ascher Brothers Inc., Balaban & Katz Corp., Lubliner & Trinz
Architects: Ralph C. Harris
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: New Lakeside Theatre
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Opened with Harry Mestayer in “The House of a Thousand Candles” on September 4, 1915. It was built and operated by the Ascher Brothers circuit (two years later taken over by the Lubliner & Trinz circuit) in the once-fashionable Uptown neighborhood. The 1,000-seat Lakeside Theatre was located on N. Sheridan Road at Lakeside Place, not far from Lincoln Park. Originally, the theatre sat well over 1,000 and was equipped with a Wurlitzer 2 manual 7 ranks pipe organ. On September 20, 1933 it was taken over by the Balaban & Katz Corp and they operated it as a discount house, renamed New Lakeside Theatre, the reopening film was Helen Twelvetrees in “Disgraced. New seats and a new sound system had been installed.
The Lakeside Theatre closed around late-1966 or the beginning of 1967, and was acquired by the Dance Center of Columbia College in 1970.
Thirty years later Columbia College vacated the building for a larger, new home in the South Loop. The former Lakeside then housed a youth center.
In April 2023 renovations began and it had reopened by December 2023.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft, Ray Martinez
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Recent comments (view all 29 comments)
Here is a description of the Lakeside Theatre from an article about Ascher Bros. in the March 10, 1917 issue of Moving Picture World:
CircEsteem Youth Center is announcing a facade renovation removing the mural and replacing it with windows. On their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Circesteem
Theatre will be restored and reopened to a theatre again.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/04/11/massive-mosaic-mural-on-uptowns-lakeside-theater-building-coming-down-as-nonprofit-plans-renovation/?utm_source=Pico&utm_campaign=979a36709f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_4_11_morninglist1_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b6b84a5cee-979a36709f-99762179&mc_cid=979a36709f&mc_eid=9b75301f60
Above link here: Mural
Theatre will be reopened soon. Status should change to renovating
I always assumed that this theater had been gutted, but now that I’m seeing pictures, it’s obviously largely intact. I hope this survives the renovation - the Lakeside did not have a working stage so I’m not sure where the audience will go as a performance space. Will be interesting to see.
My school rented this place for a dance concert back in the 90’s. At the time Columbia College was running the space. The auditorium seemed to be untouched, although all painted black. They removed some seats and built the stage out into the seating area. There may have been one of those old shadow box stage spaces in back as well, but I’m not sure. My assumption is this new renovation will do something similar.
Theatre status should be open!
Pictures and story on the theater’s current status here.