Portage Theatre
4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60641
4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60641
37 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 213 comments
hi! this very recent sun-times article says a lot IMO about where things are w/ Portage (& Congress) and Carranza’s desired next step:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130717/portage-park/wanted-new-operators-for-portage-congress-theaters
Mr. Carranza booted out the ‘little guys’ Northwest Film Society after they’d done so much work to fix up the Portage (for film use at least) over the years, and his latest tactic’s to enlist the ‘big guys’ realtors Paine/Wetzel to better deal with the liquor license denial problem.
(Do you smell anything?)
We know who our friends are and aren’t.
Carranza seems like the type of guy who thinks he can do what he wants and always smooth it over when opposition arises. The world doesn’t really work that way however. There is always a day of reckoning and it seems like his may now have arrived.
(previous) management and the Northwest Film Society had printed up a screening schedule that in fact went beyond mid-April which proved optimistic because the owner pulled their plug friday 5/24, and hasty relocation for 2 weekend films was arranged at music box theatre plus the patio theater.
my impression is the (new) owner threw a fit resulting from denial of liquor license. if he gets it rest assured the portage will become like the congress theatre he also owns (perhaps not coincidently now suffering a liquor license suspension itself), and ultimately the locals may wish they hadn’t voiced their opposition to the religious organization that wanted to use the portage as a church.
Theater closed indefinitely; alderman won’t approve Carranza’s takeover of the liquor license. DNAInfo story here.
Good article, sums up the whole rotten mess really well, I would'nt want that guy living next door to me!
Thanks Life’s Too Short for link. I hope the Portage makes it. Wonderful programing!
Carranza sounds just plain crazy:
http://chicagoist.com/2012/11/29/congress_theater_owner_defaults_on.php
With respect, I disagree Trolleyguy. For years I’ve been hearing that Portage Park wants to bring life back to Six Corners. Having a concert venue would do that. But it doesn’t seem to be an acceptable option. To me it seems that they want to have their cake and eat it too. Or specifically, it seems that they want to bring back the mid-20th Century glory days which isn’t going to happen.
Security, underage drinking and such are problems that come along with the business. People live near each one of the venues I mentioned above and neighbors have not raised concerns about these things.
My main complaint with this situation is that Dennis and his associates seem to have been treated with disrespect.
My secondary complaint involves building maintenance. I haven’t been to the Congress in a long time. But if Carranza is running it into ground and the Portage is next that is certainly not a good situation.
I wouldn’t pay my rent either if I had to shell out to repair the landlord’s building.
This whole situation strikes me as ridiculous five different ways. When all the dust settles I hope the Portage is still being used.
Wow. I haven’t been following the details. But it sounds like Carranza is handing the situation in a very poor, most undiplomatic, manner.
Apparently, though he is no fan of the current management as he is moving to have them evicted; View article
Update: The new owner of the building is Eddie Carranza, who currently operates the Congress Theater. His statement states that he is a fan of movie programming but is also interested using the theater for diversified entertainment options. Read article
The Portage Theater and the surrounding building has been sold to new but undisclosed owners (who may or may not be the same as the ones who operate the Congress Theater). The theater’s future remains unclear. View article
The above referenced article in the Chicagoist lists some very good reasons why a concert venue managed by the Congress folks would not be a good fit for Six Corners.
“Portage Theater supporters (rightly) fear the Congress Theater’s problems with loud concerts, crowd control, underage drinking and security would follow to the Far Northwest side. The rumblings on Everyblock claim Congress management would tear out seats in order to fill more people in the space.”
The Congress cannot be compared to the 4 other concert venues mentioned here.
Hopefully Dennis can pull of the financing. But, at the same time, having concerts there doesn’t seem like it would be the worst thing in the world. The obvious issues are there of course. But the Riviera, the Copernicus Center, the Park West, the Vic and others have been successfully dealing with it for years. Certainly the places I mentioned bring people to their respective neighborhoods and certainly those people spend money in nearby businesses while they are there. I can’t really see how it would hurt Six Corners.
If the church is looking at the former Belpark, they have the issue of a large liquor store and flophouse (transient hotel) directly across the street from the bingo hall. Maybe they can do outreach in the area.
The effort by a church group to buy and convert the Portage has been abandoned: View article
I think the terra cotta was removed in the 50s or 60s, maybe when the marquee and doors were replaced by those from the Tivoli, because it’s not in a photo from the 70s
“There MUST be separation between church and cinema!!!”
Absolutely Tim. Another storefront church will NOT benefit Chicago.
Nor will it benefit the redevelopment of the Six Corners area. I was hoping that with the revival of the Portage Theatre, some new restauarants would open. There’s still no good place to eat around this theatre and the presence of a church would hinder restaurants from opening. You can’t get a liquor license within a certain distance of a church in Chicago.
Henry L. Newhouse should be removed as architect. Lindley Phelps Rowe was architect and firm was Fridstein & Co.
Preliminary landmark status means that any permit filed in the preliminary period is subject to review by Landmarks. Generally it means nothing can be altered in the period of consideration, which can last up to a year. This does not mean that final designation will protect the facade, lobby, and auditorium. Indeed, the Village Art (Germania) and Biograph both are landmarked but nothing past the facade is protected.
DEFG it is too late for the Church to move in Landmark status is going to the Portage theatre so alterations of the theatre space cannot be altered nore the lobby or facade can be touched.
There MUST be separation between church and cinema!!!
DON’T LET THIS BEAUTIFUL THEATRE LET A CHURCH TAKE OVER AND DESTROY OUR ENTERTAINMENT AND THEATRE!!! MUST BE SAVED!!!
http://www.facebook.com/SaveThePortageTheater
We must endeavor to persevere.