Norshore Theatre
1749 W. Howard Street,
Chicago,
IL
60626
1749 W. Howard Street,
Chicago,
IL
60626
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Balaban & Katz Corp., Lubliner & Trinz
Architects: Cornelius Ward Rapp, George W. Leslie Rapp
Firms: Rapp & Rapp
Styles: French Renaissance
Nearby Theaters
Opened June 17, 1926 with Esther Ralston in “The Blind Goddess”. It was built for the Lubliner & Trinz circuit but was operated by Balaban & Katz. The palatial Norshore Theatre seated 3,017. The theatre was located in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Its outer lobby featured huge crystal chandeliers and the ceiling was decorated with Pompeiian motifs. The theatre also contained fine French antiques and was equipped with a Wurlitzer 4 manual 20 ranks theatre pipe organ which was opened by organist Chauncey Haines. Seating was provided on the orchestra level, and on a very shallow mezzanine level.
The Norshore Theatre was closed in 1957, and in December 1960, this amazing theatre was reduced to rubble. An office building, was later built in its place and this too has since been demolished.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft, Thomas Stranich, Ray Martinez
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Recent comments (view all 32 comments)
The Norshore’s opening featured bathing beauties.
I went to grammar school with Mary Ure. We went to the restaurant and then to the movie. I thought that was amazing. What more could an 8th grader want? Don’t know what relative she was of yours but we graduated from grammar school in 1945. Doris O'Connor Strickland
Mid `50’s photo added courtesy of Michael Murphy.
Circa 1950 photo added credit Yesterday’s Trails Historical Photos.
1926 photo added courtesy Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society.
Additional 1926 Grand Opening print ad added courtesy Monicka Montiel-macias. Different graphic than previously posted image.
1926 Gala Opening photo credit Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society via Twitter.
https://twitter.com/RPWRHS/status/1360669502552363013?s=20&fbclid=IwAR2Mi83r297VWnMlhcticoYGkWjkJYsj_tZIJYLs5grqXI79uT7I6ShrYio
Here’s a fantastic photo gallery of the Norshore:
https://louisgrell.com/artworks/norshore-theatre/
There are a couple of demolition photos, and my comment from some years ago is shown to be true. The building was demolished with its grand light fixtures still in place.
At the time 50’s modern style was the thing of the moment. Maybe those chandeliers were thought to be tacky leftovers from the Roaring Twenties.
A couple decades later they would have been considered quite valuable.
Upon further examination this web site seems more significant than I originally thought. It was put up by the Louis Grell Foundation. Apparently Grell did the murals in many movie theaters of the time, as well as other public buildings. Here’s a link to the home page:
https://louisgrell.com/
Demolished in December 1960.
December 15, 1960 Chicago Tribune link below.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-norshore-theater-demolis/140275134/?fbclid=IwAR24clAiYB5SUd4osDVXeSMVQP7M3HAG5sj3akn5xdMV-Jb4NLboXh_uNXA