Eulogy for a Movie House - The forgotten Comfort Theatre burns to the ground (By Matthew Prigge, SHEPHERD EXPRESS, May 25, 20115) -
Mother’s Foods, formerly the Comfort Theatre, was lost to a fire this week. - Last Tuesday, Mother’s Food and Liquor (2438 W. Hopkins) burned. The fire punched through the roof of the building, with witnesses claiming the flames shot as high as fifty feet into the air. The building was a total loss and damages are estimated at more than $1 million. Residents of the Franklin Heights neighborhood around Mother’s lamented the loss as the latest in a long, slow decline of the area. In this broadcast on the fire, Sidney Fumbanks, a nearby barber, said his shop was the last business on the block, the last gathering place for neighbors. “I guess that’s what happens in these neighborhoods, or when we don’t have the money,” he told CBS 58. “The dollar don’t stay, it just comes and goes.” Buildings like the long, two-story brick structure that housed Mother’s are rarely eulogized. In fact, had it not been for the store’s rather unique name, I probably would have missed the news of the fire and you’d be reading about something else right now. But I remembered the Mother’s sign from an afternoon in 2010 I spent with my photographer friend Erin Dorbin, documenting the city’s still-standing former movie theater buildings. The Mother’s building opened as the Comfort Theatre in 1914, the neighborhood’s first motion picture house in a city that had over sixty of them. No longer would the largely German and working-class residents of the Heights need to trek all the way down to the Paris or Oasis theaters on Center Street to watch single-reel chase-n-wallop comedies or starchy melodramas. The Comfort had a simple layout — an inclined floor with six hundred seats and a small stage — but was a veritable modern marvel when compared to the movie houses going into operation just a decade before. Most of those were converted storefronts, with a few hundred folding chairs, a white sheet tacked to one wall and little else. Fred Maertz commissioned the building and was the Comfort’s first proprietor. He had cut his teeth in the movie business by running the nearby Paris Theatre (which closed in 1930, but still stands today). Maertz made the Comfort a family affair, with his sons Edward and William learning the trade under his management. The Comfort also gave young projectionist Charles Trampe his first regular job. Trampe later went into the business for himself, running Milwaukee’s Climax Theatre and buying Bluebird Films, one of the city’s major distribution houses. He also (briefly) served on the Milwaukee Motion Picture Commission, the city’s film censor board. Franklin Heights’ love of the movies, however, proved to be more than the little Comfort could handle. By the mid-1920s it was clear that a larger house was needed and Edward began to raise the cash that would eventually build the breathtaking Zenith Theatre (which also still stands) just down the block at 2498 W. Hopkins. According to Larry Widen and Judi Anderson’s excellent history of Milwaukee theaters, Silver Screens, Maertz followed his father’s example and employed his children and other family members at the Zenith. When his daughter married in the 1930s, Maertz hired a Pathe News cameraman to film the wedding and featured it as a “special edition” newsreel at the Zenith the following week.
The opening of the Zenith in 1926 could easily have been the death of the Comfort. However, the little house managed to survive for another eight years as Franklin Height’s “number two” house. While the Zenith could book films within a few months of their premieres at the downtown movie palaces, the Comfort was probably relegated to running pictures that might be a year or more past their release dates. Most weeks, the Comfort’s program listings did not even appear in the newspaper.
The Comfort closed in 1934, at the tail-end of a national wave of theater closings prompted by the Great Depression and the conversion of the movies from silence to sound (no record survives that suggests the Comfort ever installed sound equipment). Shortly after the Comfort shut off its lights, the building was reopened as the Mayfair Café. Billed as “one the most unusual cafes in the middle west,” the Mayfair was the city’s first nightspot with terraced seating - using the theater’s old pitched floor to offer diners an uncompromised view of their nightly floor shows. Until the end, the old “COMFORT” engraving was still visible above the building’s entryway. The novelty of the Mayfair seemed to wear off pretty quickly because by 1935, the place was listed as the Aztec Night Club in the city directory. In 1941, a listing appears for the Comfort Bar and Tavern (the “Comfort” name, etched into the stone above the entrance, was still visible when the building burned). A bowling alley was installed in the building sometime in the post-war years, but was evidently gone by 1971 when it was known as the J&J Bar. After standing vacant for a time in the early 1980s, it was known as Andy’s Place and the Hop On Inn before becoming Mother’s sometime in the 2000s. I saw the building only briefly, just long enough for Erin to snap a picture before moving up the block to shoot the old Zenith (we were actually stopped between the two by a pair of police officers asking us what we were doing in the neighborhood). The trip took us to a number of Milwaukee neighborhoods that have undergone similar changes since the heyday of the movies. We talked with a couple of other people that day, mostly locals who asked what were up to, most surprised to hear that some old dumpy building had once been a movie theater. In the grand scheme, the loss of an old theater building is fairly inconsequential, much less so than the loss of a business in an area that badly needs them. But nonetheless, the loss of the building is more than just the loss of a store and a place to hang out. Soon, the ruins of Mother’s will be moved away and another empty lot will be left behind. Not just a vacant patch of land, but a place where something is missing. (Check out matthewjprigge.com for all kinds of fun stuff, and listen for the WMMF radio show on 91.7 WMSE. Matthew J. Prigge is a freelance author and historian from Milwaukee. He is the author of four books, and wrote weekly blogs for shepherdexpress.com on topics of local history.)
Urban spelunking: Mitchell Street’s former Park Theater & Bilt-Rite facade (By Bobby Tanzilo, Senior Editor/Writer, Urban Milwaukee, Dec. 1, 2020)
Almost like magic it appeared and then, voila!, gone again. “It” is a 1940s two-tone pigmented structural glass facade on an 1890s building at 723 W. Mitchell St. Added when Bilt-Rite Furniture opened a second location there in 1946, the stunning Art Moderne facade – made of a product called Vitrolite – was covered with drab steel panels 40 years later. Back in March, after artist Shane McAdams, whose gallery Real Tinsel Gallery is nearby at 1013 W. Mitchell St., bought the building in 2019, the City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission wondered aloud at a meeting whether or not the panels survived, though it sounded pessimistic about the possibility. Instead, in mid-November, workers spent three days removing the steel to find that the George Zagel-designed facade had, in fact, survived in, if not all, then at least much of its glory. The problem, however, is that many of the glass panels were broken. “It has to come down,” McAdams told me on Friday, as a crew prepared to remove it. “It’s dangerous. But I’m going to recreate it as closely as possible.” And, so, when I returned on Monday, the facade was completely gone, giving us a glimpse of how the building looked when it was built in 1890 (although not entirely, as the former window openings were blocked up and replacing with new fenestration).
The three-story building and its two-story neighbor – designed by architect Henry Lotter – at 725 have, it seems, always been owned in tandem, connected as they are by an internal staircase at the back. While the taller structure has spent most of its life as a furniture store, it did have Amsterdam Tea, which also sold coffee and “holiday goods” as a tenant at the turn of the 20th century. The location was an outpost of a Downtown business that had two locations in the city center. This arrangement was quite common for many years, when Mitchell Street was second only to Downtown when it came to retail corridors in Milwaukee. In fact, when Amsterdam closed, the spot became a Mitchell Street branch store of the Milwaukee Green Stamp Trading Company, though by 1906 it was home to the Propkop & Szatkowski Furniture Company.
The following year, Julius Wasniewski, who had been selling furniture, stoves and crockery in the two-story building, converted it into a theater for live Vaudeville performances, calling it the Park. But Wasniewski didn’t appear to stay long at the Park, perhaps because of the fire.
On Sept. 9, 1907, a three-alarm fire broke out in the rooms at the back of the building above the theater, which were occupied by vaudeville performers. There, a gasoline stove used for cooking was believed to have exploded, sending flames into the back staircase (pictured below) and into the second floor of the adjacent furniture store. Once there, it destroyed everything on the second floor, and most everything on the floor below was ruined by water.
Wasniewski denied that the fire started inside the Park, but, reported the Journal, “It is said by neighbors living on the third floor of the adjoining building, however, that the rooms on the second floor to the rear of the theater (two photos below) are occupied by the show people and that they frequently use a gasoline stove there to prepare their meals. Mrs. Steven Mendowicz, who occupies the third floor rear of the furniture store was the first to discover the fire. She was in the kitchen with Mrs. Prokop, who lives in the front part. Shortly after the smoke was discovered the room was in flames and it was thought that the two women perished, but they got out safely.”
By January 1908, newspapers carried classified ads, offering for sale or lease, a 400-seat Vaudeville theater, and four months later, the Park Theater manager A. Bartell placed an ad seeking, “a good hustling partner,” claiming, “I have a chance to make some money.”
For a while, ambitious theater man Edward Wagner operated the Park Theater, perhaps after he left a smaller nearby theater in 1908. With his wife Martha, Wagner had opened The Emporium, a nickel theater at 626 W. Mitchell St., in 1906. According to Larry Widen and Judi Anderson’s “Silver Screens,” the Wagners quickly renamed the 175-seat Emporium the Imperial 5¢ Theater to highlight its admission cost. In addition to the Park, Wagner would go on to operate the Happy Hour at 1814 S. Muskego (1910-24, 590 seats) and the Wagner at 1636 W. Forest Home (1913-17, 371). By 1912, Wagner also had acquired theaters in Waukesha, Hartford and Racine. He gave them all up by 1919 to run the Garden Theater on Milwaukee Avenue in South Milwaukee, which he did until his passing in 1930.
An early view of the Park, perhaps from a postcard, shows a flag-draped entrance with hoardings announcing performers and a man standing out front. Perhaps that was one of the barkers, the men who would coax patrons into the theater by touting its array of attractions.
Anton Tardick was a barker at the Park in 1909 and had the misfortune that February of being among four arrested at local theaters for breaking the city’s anti-noise ordinance, which hemmed in the barkers and could lead to fines as hefty as $25 or 30 days in jail. But Tardick and the others argued that the ordinance was unreasonable and, therefore, illegal. When he was found guilty and fined $1 plus court costs, he appealed.
Whether or not Tardick returned is unclear, but the Park continued on and in March 1909 it advertised for a steady position for a singer. That November it sought an “illustrated song singer,” warning, “no boozer,” suggesting the folks tapped to sing along – often to piano accompaniment – to a series of projected slides that illustrated the lyrics could be less than upstanding.
The following March, the Park sought violinists.
Though already by 1909, the Park is referred to as a nickelodeon, suggesting it was already screening moving pictures. As vaudeville faded, the theater, like most such venues, transitioned entirely to film.
A 1914 building permit shows the Park being run by Joseph J. Schwartz and described as a “picture theater.” Schwartz had been at the theater since at least 1911.
In 1916, it was running matinee films at 2 p.m. and advertised its content as “refined high class pictures.”
In 1930, the Park found itself embroiled in a dispute between rival projectionists unions that many believed had led to a series of bombings, more stinky than deadly nature, though one was more sinister.
In May of that year, while patrons watched the 1927 silent picture “The Rose of Kildare,” starring Helene Chadwick, Pat O'Malley and Henry B. Walthall, on a Wednesday night, they were forced out when a “tear gas bomb” went off in an auditorium air vent. Theater manager Cyrus J. Roddy couldn’t explain what happened, but noted in a newspaper article that there had been “some difficulty with labor,” lately, adding that, “on two occasions the front of the place was smeared with paint.”
Detectives Leroy Gittens and Ralph Hostettler, according to a Milwaukee Sentinel report, “braved the heavy atmoshpere to investigate. Some of the chemical was also found in a newspaper near the rear exit.”
Similar bombs were ignited in about 50 theaters over the course of the next two years, and in August 1932, it was discovered that at least some were made by a pair of teens who made the bombs using the chemistry skills they learned during their studies at Boys Tech High School. The boys admitted to setting off the devices in the Avalon and the Mirth on Kinnickinnic Avenue, and the Granada on 11th and Mitchell. They said they also attempted one at the Park that didn’t explode. It’s possible other bombs did figure into the union battle and the entire thing culminated in a dynamite bomb that exploded at the Parkway Theater on 35th and Lisbon, injuring six people, in October 1932.
The Park was the scene of yet another projectionists union spat in 1953 and that may well be what led to the demise of the theater. That summer, William J. Schmitt took over the Park after it had closed in June and said he was running it, according to a Journal article at the time, “on a shoestring” and was “taking in very little money.” That’s why, he said, he refused to pay his projectionists, who went on strike, leading to a union picket line out front. Schmitt said he couldn’t afford to pay union rates of $92.74 a week for 43.5 hours of work, plus $3.71 for the pension fund.
Before it closed the theater had been a member of the Allied Independent Theater Owners Association of Wisconsin and thus had a contract with the union. When Schmitt reopened it, the Park was entirely independent and had no contract with projectionists. The action marked the first time in about 20 years that the union had picketed a theater, according to the article.
Ten days later, the Journal reported that Schmitt had closed the theater on Sept. 13, not, he claimed due to the union action, but rather due to “other adversities,” including his inability to pay the rent, the arrival of a film that was in poor condition and therefore presumably unplayable, plus a series of demands from the health department, including that he paint the auditorium as well as the lobby, “because of damage caused by high spirited children who threw ink on the lobby walls.” And he still owed the projectionists their pay. Schmitt said he planned to continue in the business, but not likely at the Park. He also claimed he’d run his own projector, bellowing that “the union won’t stop me,” though the union promised to picket any theater at which Schmitt worked as his own projectionist.
It was at this point that the theater appears to have been absorbed into the furniture business next door, where Prokop and Szatkowski had operated for 25 years, closing in 1931. (Notably, Prokop and Szatkowski listed the building for sale in 1923, but ultimately stayed on, although at that point it appears Propkop was on his own. An advertisement offers a glimpse of the pre-vitrolite facade.)
While Mitchell’s Salon opened an outpost of its original Downtown location there for a time, the building appears to have continued its run as a furniture retailer and in 1946, Bilt-Rite Furniture became the latest business to add a Mitchell Street location. An October 1946 ad boasted that Bilt-Rite was, “opening a beautiful new furniture store to serve you. The entire interior of our store has been brightened and newly decorated into a completely modern, colorful, brilliant shopping center designed to make your shopping enjoyable, convenient and efficient.” Bilt-Rite had been founded on 3rd and Garfield by Irwin Kerns and his son-in-law Sol Forman. It’s now owned by the fourth generation of the same family.
At the time it opened the Mitchell Street location, Bilt-Rite tapped architect George Zagel to design the eye-catching pink and mint green vitrolite Art Moderne facade that covered nearly the entire front of the building. The old, more traditional fenestration was replaced with a pair of circular openings that flanked a two-story rectangle of glass block in the center of the wall. Born in Milwaukee in 1893, Zagel had studied both engineering and architecture by the time he arrived in the practice of John W. Menge Jr. During World War I, Zagel served in the Army Corps of Engineers and then stayed on in Europe to study the architecture of France and Germany. Returning to Milwaukee, he became one of the most in-demand architects in the city, designing more than 1,500 buildings over his long career.
Zagel’s facade endured for four decades before it was covered up with the steel panels, perhaps because some of the vitrolite was already failing. In 2006, Bilt-Rite moved to a new, larger home – having long since closed its 3rd Street store – on 54th and Layton in Greenfield.
In 2010, the Robles Self-Service Center, the first social services office focused on assisting the South Side Latinx community, opened on the first floor, and has been there ever since.
Next door, in the vacant Park Theater space, McAdams – who bought the building in 2019 – plans to open a cafe and is considering naming it Bilt-Rite, if the furniture dynasty will allow it. On the upper levels – where you can still see the old theater office in the front and the old performers quarters at the back – he’s working on plans for either artist studios, apartments or some combination of both. At the back of the building at 723, on the top floor where there will be a large loft space for rent, he envisions a two-story apartment with access to the roof, where the views are quite spectacular.
Though there are very few traces left of the theater – a sloping space where the lobby was, for example – McAdams hopes he may find more when he begins work to remove a dropped ceiling and wall-covering panels in the former auditorium.
“I’d like to preserve anything I find,” he says. “I want Mitchell Street to thrive,” he says. “But also we want to be sensitive to maintaining its character.”
(From ArchitectureChicago PLUS: Sunday, December 18, 2011)
On the 30th anniversary of its closing, Andy Pierce reminds us what’s so magical about the Uptown Theatre. —
Today, December 19th, marks the 30th anniversary of the day Chicago’s famed Uptown Theatre closed its doors. By the time I got around to it in the 1960s, the 4,300 seat former movie palace designed by Rapp & Rapp was past its prime. Apart from the John Frankenheimer masterpiece The Train, most of the films I saw there were unmemorable - The Ballad of Josie? The Dave Clark Five in Having a Wild Weekend? - but I was always blown away by the grandeur, beauty, and sheer scale of the place.
Since its closing, the Uptown has suffered the indignities of being owned by some of the city’s most infamous slumlords, leaks, floods, freezes, neglect and decay. In 2008, it was acquired by Jam Productions, which already books the Riviera across the street. Last October, representatives from JAM, mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office and freshman Chicago alderman Harry Osterman and James Cappleman met to discuss how a revived Uptown could anchor a new vision for an Uptown Entertainment Center.
In 2006, the price tag bandied about for fully restoring the Uptown was $30 to $40 million. Today, it’s more like $70 million. If hope is to be had, it might be found in the examples of two New York City theaters, the 1929 2800-seat Beacon, which withstood bad times and attempts to “improve” it into a disco to emerge as a beloved and active concert venue despite being far from the Mid- Manhattan Theatre district. Even more striking is the comparison to the 3,200 seat Loew’s Kings Theater in Brooklyn, designed by the famed Chicago movie palace architects Rapp & Rapp, left to rot ever since its 1977 closing. Like the Uptown, those who cherished the theater battled to keep it alive for revival, and their efforts were rewarded in a project, launched last year for a 2014 completion, to restore the Loew’s Kings to its former glory as the centerpiece of the renewal of the Flatbush shopping district. The city of New York has committed $50 million to the project’s expected $70 million cost.
This week’s edition of Time Out Chicago has an excellent article by Andy Pierce, one of the people most instrumental in Friends of the Uptown who have been tireless in championing saving the theater. We’re privileged to have Andy provide us his overview of the history, importance and future potential of the Uptown …
What makes a theater a movie palace?
At some point, almost any surviving vintage theater is referred to by fans or reporters as a “movie palace.”
The long-closed Uptown Theater, 4816 N. Broadway, is truly an early example of the very large movie palaces of the mid-to-late 1920s. It is also one of the last great movie palaces to not yet be restored, renovated, radically altered or demolished.
Chicago’s remaining open and operating movie palaces – used for live performances – are the Riviera, Chicago, Congress and Oriental theaters. The Central Park has survived as a church since 1971 and the restored New Regal (originally Avalon) has been closed intermittently since 2003. [Note: Our Palace Theater was not a movie palace. Rather, it was built for Big-Time Orpheum Vaudeville.]
Arguably the most profitable themed entertainment of the day, Balaban & Katz “presentation houses,” such as the Uptown, featured continuous performance of three or more shows daily; stage shows with themes, costumes and sets planned in consideration of the feature film; a full orchestra rising and falling on multiple stage lifts, with a conductor at the helm of projector speeds and tempos to keep on schedule and massive theatre organs to accompany the orchestra and provide the aural environments and voices for the early and yet-still-silent stars of the screen.
In B&K’s deluxe presentation houses such as the Uptown, a system of colored cove lights controlled the accent lighting of the auditorium such that the audience was entirely encapsulated in the mood of the moment on screen; for example yellow for sunrise, red for war, blue for night, purple for love.
Most of America’s movie palaces carried a Neo-Classical theme cohesively throughout their public spaces and were lavishly decorated not only with plaster relief but also with fanciful polychrome paint schemes, damask, drapes, elaborate chandeliers, antique oil paintings, marble sculpture groups and fountains. Patron comfort and service were augmented in the Uptown for example with amenities such as hat racks beneath seats, a parcel check, luxurious men’s and women’s lounges and a fanciful playroom with storybook themes for children.
Grand entrance lobbies gave standees a place to wait behind ropes while the previous audience exited through other lobbies and ambulatories. A full, working stage with scenery, a theater pipe organ, and multiple thousands of seats in floor, mezzanine and balcony areas completed the movie palace formula over tens of thousands of square feet of real estate.
Baptized in oil, labor and love, friends of Chicago’s historic Uptown Theater, 4816 N. Broadway, are recognizing a peculiar anniversary for one of the world’s largest and most lavish surviving movie palaces today, Monday, Dec. 19, with a letter-writing campaign. Please see the Uptown Theatre, Chicago, Facebook page for details:
While the Uptown has been closed for 30 of its 86 years, demolition by neglect was held at bay largely through the work of volunteers who kept the theater graffiti free as high as they could reach, who stoked her shopworn boiler and who kept the landmark interior as dry as possible, using patches upon patches of hydraulic cement to seal cracks in steel roof drains that had been pushed open by ice. Uptown’s 12 different roof surfaces drain through this system of pipes. The failure of this system in the arctic winters of the early 1980s allowed water to damage to some interior areas of ornate plaster ceilings and walls.
This less-than-glamorous anniversary comes as both Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) are avowed boosters of the Uptown Square business and entertainment district and have voiced their cooperation and support for renovating the Uptown.
The theater was built at a cost of $4 million between 1924 and 1925 by the local, family-owned company of Balaban & Katz, following the success of their Central Park, Riviera, Tivoli and Chicago theaters. “Built For All Time,” its over-the-top, neo-Spanish Baroque design by the Chicago architectural firm of C.W. and George L. Rapp was touted as “An Acre of Seats in a Magic City.” The Uptown has a marquee bigger than a yacht, three lobbies as big as train stations, and boasts more than 4,300 seats in its vast floor, mezzanine and balcony.
The opening of the Uptown was commemorated in the August 17, 1925 edition of Balaban & Katz’s weekly magazine. It’s a fascinating snapshot of both the Uptown and 1920’s Chicago. You can download the entire issue courtesy of the Compass Rose Cultural Crossroads website.
Many historians note how the popularity of television in American homes curtailed the tremendous number of movie patrons. However, the late Bro. Andrew Corsini Fowler was quick to remind me that our fascination with radio programs took the first cut out of movie palace receipts. [Note: Bro. Andrew was a cofounder of Theatre Historical Society of America in 1969 alongside impresario and theater organ enthusiast Ben Hall, the Time-Life Editor and author of “The Best Remaining Seats."
As entertainment tastes and choices changed through the years, the Uptown was operated by successors to B&K before it was leased by the local Rabiela family in the late 1970s for Spanish-language films and special ticketed events. Interestingly, Jerry Mickelson, of Jam Productions, the Chicago music promoter who booked the Uptown for years and staged the last public concert there in 1981, is part of the LLC that owns the Uptown today.
“It was a very sad day for me on Dec. 19, 1981, when I told Rene Rabiela Sr. after Jam’s concert with the J. Geils Band that the theater was uninhabitable for the public use without repairs,” Mickelson recalled in an interview. “The washrooms were barely functioning and Jam had to pay for the oil to heat the theater.”
Mickelson credits local officials and longtime volunteers for the Uptown surviving decades of deferred maintenance and neglect through a succession of owners and receivership. Also, the City of Chicago invested in more than $1 million in court-ordered stabilization work and repairs, which removed and stored decorative terra cotta and replaced the system of pipes through which the rain and snow melt from 12 roof surfaces drains. It was this system’s failure in the arctic winters of the early 1980s which caused water damage to some interior areas of ornate plaster ceilings and walls.
While there is no shortage of public sentiment for the theater, the riddle of the Uptown is how to fund a restoration in the tens of millions of dollars such that the historic, block-filling movie palace will serve the entertainment and special events needs of the ticket-buying public of today.
“There is a new energy that has been infused by Mayor Emanuel, whose vision is to create an entertainment district that will provide an unprecedented economic and cultural development opportunity for this great neighborhood,” Mickelson said. He added that both Ald. Osterman and Ald. James Cappleman (46th) are also working hard to see the Uptown reopen and be a catalyst for enlivening the district.
Being closed 30 years means that most of the Uptown’s friends on Facebook, its persistent advocates and its letter-writing activists are not old enough to have seen a show there.
This 40-year-old writer became attuned to the dedication and resolve of Uptown’s volunteers during a frigid winter day sometime in 1998. We were getting the theater ready for a special event rental such as the Hearts Party, a commitment ceremony or a chamber of commerce dinner. I recall pulling down a rotten 1950s curtain that was hanging in shreds from its hoisted frame atop the grand lobby window facing Broadway and asking if it we should save it. “No. It will be replaced when the restoration happens,” Mangel said matter-of-factly without a hint of “if” in his tone.
At first, it struck me as very sad to think of how he and other volunteers would feel crushed if the building were not saved. Then, after seeing the entire building and working until I was exhausted and could no longer feel my feet or hands, I knew in my heart that the Uptown was too valuable and too extraordinarily beautiful to not save for some future use.
There was a time during my early work for the Uptown when I was ushering on alternate nights for the Auditorium, Chicago and Oriental theaters. I would come and go at times from their carpeted and well-lit spaces to the almost-forgotten Uptown. The disparity of attention and investment was palpable.
I also have a clear memory of sweeping the Uptown’s basement one day in preparation for a tour, listening to President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky hearings being broadcast from Capitol Hill. I thought: What if we had the money being spent on this ridiculousness? Turns out the $30 million Kenneth Starr spent on the investigation could have renovated the Uptown at that time.
Preparing for working within the Uptown was like going on a long, winter hike in the woods. I dressed in layers and packed water, snacks and flashlights. Aside from doing a good deed for the sake of preserving the building, the reward for a day’s work was usually a big, hot meal at Fiesta Mexicana Restaurant or a cocktail at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, both of which are on this historic block.
During rare special events, banner days, really, for the Uptown, I’ve heard the Uptown pulse with incredible dance music for events and seen every Spanish Baroque detail lit up in brilliant color by the industry’s best rented lights, disco balls and lasers. I also had a glimpse of a lost era when I saw the Uptown lit by candles and caressed in the music of a jazz trio. These are precious memories that make the work worthwhile. Together with the two community portraits I have organized in front of the theater for the 75th and 80th opening day anniversaries, I feel as if I have done everything I can do within my means and abilities as a volunteer for and with the Uptown.
On most days, the only performance one can hear in the Uptown is a small jam box tuned to WDCB or WFMT, the distant rhythm of the “L,” and the occasional shrill call of the resident peregrine falcon aerie. Time is at a standstill and the countless griffins, maidens, fascia brutes and laughing kings who populate the Uptown’s walls are simply waiting mutely for their next audience.
Some of the Uptown’s many friends who have said to me “I hope to live to see it restored” over the past 18 years have since passed away. I too had hope that they would be here to celebrate its reopening day. We stay positive as volunteers and have faith that the project will happen.
My trusted friend and mentor Joe DuciBella, the noted theatre historian and designer who succumbed to cancer in 2007, was one of the Uptown’s most tactful and respected advocates. Late at night following Theatre Historical Society of America events, our heady conversations in Joe’s National Register home on Caton Street in Wicker Park would always drift to the Uptown and its chances for revival. Deep down inside, Joe hoped that the Uptown would be restored in her entirety. However, he was a realist and would concede that perhaps it would survive in some repurposed form. Privately, the closest Joe would come to how he truly felt about the Uptown’s odds was to say the matter was “soft territory.”
In addition to DuciBella, who gave countless tours and chronicled its importance in Marquee magazine, the Uptown’s patron saints include Don Lampert, who had the building listed on the National Register and designated as a City of Chicago landmark; Bob Boin, who stored its bronze and crystal chandeliers and is in his third decade of volunteering; Curt Mangel, the restoration consultant who gained the confidence of owners Ken Goldberg and Lou Wolf (notorious tax-sale buyers) so that he could go in, thaw out, dry out and revive the Uptown’s systems in the 1980s; David Syfczak, the volunteer security guard since 1996, who checks all 110 doors and who does plaster repairs, paints and sweeps miles of floors and sidewalks; Jimmy Wiggins, manager of the Riviera Theatre, who oversees operations, maintenance and repairs; and many more unsung friends.
Despite being dark for three decades, the Uptown still has several mature professionals in its corner that did experience it alive with music and audiences. Time will tell if Chicago’s powerbrokers, elected officials, financiers and entertainment industry leaders will find a creative, collaborative and altruistic way to re-lamp the nation’s best closed theater.
(Andy Pierce, a volunteer who helped found Friends of the Uptown in 1998, is a member of the Theatre Historical Society of America.)
On Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 at 4:30 pm CST, the Racine Planning, Heritage, and Design Commission will consider landmark-status for the CAPITOL Theatre via an internet virtual meeting as the 5th item on the agenda.
Access the meeting by phone via 1 (844) 992-4726 and use access code 132 475 2485
Prior to the meeting and public hearing questions can be submitted and/or plans can be requested by contacting the Department of City Development at (262) 636-9151, by facsimile (fax) at (262) 635-5347, or via email at .
(Chicago Reader, June 20, 1991 by Peter Strazzabosco) Now featured at the Sheridan Theatre: squatters, politics, and two plans for rehabilitation —–
Once one of the finest theaters in the country, the Sheridan Theatre now serves as a premier playhouse for vandals, the homeless, and the curious. The front doors now stand open for months at a time, even though the theater has been closed for years. Reckless renovation, fires, and public dumping have all but destroyed the building’s original magnificence. There were plans to resuscitate it a few years ago, but strangely enough they were scuttled by the city. Now two organizations have submitted competing renovation proposals to the city, and if officials think one of them is feasible, the street people may finally have to move out.
The 2,469-seat theater at 4038 N. Sheridan was built by Ascher Brothers in 1927 to accommodate stage shows and first-run movies. It was a breathtaking if expensive structure. Doric columns topped by gigantic Grecian urns soared above the street, and theatrical bas-relief figures highlighted the pediment. The facade, which recalled a Grecian temple, was a gem, marred only by the ground-floor retail shops. Inside, the architect, J.E.O. Pridmore, showed little restraint in his neoclassic design. He put in statues, chandeliers, and coffered ceilings, Corinthian columns and archways. The auditorium was topped with a canopied dome encircled by an intricate frieze of Roman charioteers. Lounges and smoking rooms catered to the elite clientele, and a bellowing four-manual Wurlitzer pipe organ shook the patrons in their seats.
But the Sheridan had to compete with Balaban and Katz’s Uptown Theatre just a mile north. This behemoth’s 4,320 seats made it the largest theater in the world when it was built, and the quality of its stage shows was hard to beat. The neighborhood surrounding it also offered more parking.
Unable to profit in such a shadow, Ascher Brothers eventually gave up the Sheridan to the William Fox chain. But Fox didn’t do any better and finally sold the theater to Balaban and Katz–who were plagued by the same problem. The public did little more than trickle in.
Balaban and Katz held on until 1951, when they accepted an offer from the Anshe Emet Synagogue, which refurbished the building for religious services. The refurbishers removed the ornate interior friezes and artwork and dismantled the outside facade, leaving a generic veneer. The Solomon Goldman Auditorium, as it was called, lasted a remarkable 15 years, and then the synagogue moved to new quarters. The building stood empty for a brief period before becoming the now infamous Palacio Teatro, where Spanish films were shown. “No fumar” signs were added to the Jewish symbols.
By 1987 the building was vacant again. Pyromaniacs torched the place repeatedly. One aspiring entrepreneur took over the lobby and tried to sell used hotel furniture, the remnants of which are now strewn about the building. The lobby’s floors and stairways are covered with the charred remains of mattresses and clothing, making it almost impossible to walk in some areas. Curtains from above the stage have been pulled down and burned, and about a third of the seats have disappeared. But at the top of the auditorium, where the dome used to be, there is still a gigantic likeness of a menorah.
Most of the small rooms seem like studio apartments, complete with food, beds, chairs, couches, tables, and clothing. The people who live on the fourth floor have a penthouse view, but their feces foul the air.
The Sheridan saga is not without blood and violence. Late last year the torso of an adult male was discovered in the alley behind the building. When police arrived, they found additional body parts scattered about the area. Panicky neighbors demanded action, and a community meeting was held with 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller in a vacant apartment just north of the theater.
The 20 or so people who showed up to voice their fears were dismayed when Shiller told them that the city itself had thwarted plans to renovate the building after the Palacio folded. In 1987 the Sheridan was set to become the new home of the Uptown library. It seemed like a perfect idea at the time; it would provide the neighborhood with a sorely needed library, preserve what was left of the Sheridan, and rid the community of one of its biggest eyesores. The deal seemed like a sure thing. The county had seized the property after the owner failed to pay the property taxes, and the city planned to acquire it at a scavenger sale through a prearranged noncash bid.
But then Cook County treasurer Ed Rosewell mysteriously decided to sell the building for the back taxes to Lou Wolf, who was on the cover of Chicago magazine two years ago above the headline “Chicago’s Worst Landlord.” Wolf did nothing with the property–he didn’t even pay the taxes–and the building fell back into the county’s hands. Through a special arrangement, the owner of a local hardware store attempts to keep it secure, though the ingenuity of the residents makes that difficult.
Now two organizations have submitted renovation proposals to the city’s Department of Economic Development, which is reviewing them. The for-profit ERTA, which already owns a handful of historically significant structures in the area, wants to put in 128 efficiency apartments for low- and medium-income elderly people, a commissary, administrative offices, retail shops along the street, and parking for 40 cars behind the building. A small movie theater might also be included. According to Bob Racky of ERTA, the Illinois Masonic Medical Center is being wooed as a possible partner. Estimates to complete the project are at $8 million.
The nonprofit Uptown Unified Arts Coalition (TUUAC) also has plans for the Sheridan. It would like to turn the building into an “education and cultural enhancement facility … available to local and regional community theater groups and other performance artists.” In the front rooms of the building, a performing-arts center would offer training and job counseling to community artists. The entire main floor of the auditorium and part of the balcony would be retained, creating a 1,500-seat theater. And a fifth floor would be built to accommodate the musicians, dancers, actors, photographers, and film and video artists who would use the facility. According to Franc Beeson of TUUAC, the building’s original architecture would be restored or replaced wherever possible. Funding for both renovation and operating costs would come from foundations, government agencies, and private philanthropists, as well as from the revenues generated by a gift shop, a restaurant, and the theater. TUUAC’s estimate is also at $8 million.
The city will have to acquire the theater from the county before either group can move ahead, but the building would undoubtedly be transferred to any developer at no cost. The city, which would have to pay around $350,000 to have the building torn down, seems eager to have someone start work as soon as possible.
The scavenger sale that would include the theater is coming up soon, yet there is no guarantee that the city will find either of the plans that have been submitted viable. And even if a plan is approved, the developer will have to scramble for financing so that he can start construction quickly. Both groups have had the structure inspected. The foundation appears to be sound, even though the basement flooded and froze last winter. Racky and Beeson agree that another winter might crack the building’s foundation beyond repair. And then it would have to be razed.
(July 21, 1943) –
Announce New Policy for Chief – Chief’s Name Changed to Ken Theater and Also Inaugurates New Policy —– Francis' Schlax, manager of the Kenosha theater, announced today that a new policy had been adopted by the Chief theater for the future months — and in addition he also announced that the theater known as the Chief would undergo a change of name also. In the future it is to be known as the Ken theater. The change of policy according to Schlax is that the theater, starting this Friday and continuing each Friday, Saturday and Sunday thereafter, will show the main features which had been shown on the Kenosha or Gateway screens the first of the previous week. — Headline Attractions — As an example, Saroyan’s “The Human Comedy” starring Mickey Rooney together with “Yanks Ahoy” will open at the Ken this Friday and play through Sunday. These two films have been attracting large audiences at the Kenosha theater. In addition, next week’s showing will be “Lady of Burlesque” starring Barbara Stanwyck, which is the headliner attraction at the Kenosha starting this Friday. The new plan, according to Schlax, has been adopted to better accommodate the defense workers.
Eden Theatre architect Jack Train, FAIA, a founding principal of Valerio Dewalt Train Associates in Chicago, died on March 17, 2014 at 91. He was known for his technical and design excellence, along with his many contributions the architecture profession. He spent the first 20 years of his career with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he designed the award-winning US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Inland Steel Building in Chicago. In 1966, he was a principal of Metz, Train, Olson & Youngren; ten years later the firm became Metz, Train & Youngren. In 1982, he founded Jack Train Associates and in 1993 brought longtime colleague Mark Dewalt on board. A year later, the pair teamed with Joseph Valerio to become Valerio Dewalt Train Associates. Train was the firm’s president until his retirement in 1998, after which he was named principal emeritus. Jack Train was actively involved with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) on the local, state, and national levels, served as its Chicago Chapter president from 1962 to 1964, and was the first president of AIA Illinois (then known as the Illinois AIA Council) and later its chairman. He also chaired several task forces and committees at the national level. In 1974, Train received that year’s Edward C. Kemper Award for outstanding service to the profession. He also wrote “The Unsung Essentials of Architecture” on the business of architecture. Train was survived by his wife Virginia; children Jack, Barbara, and Pamela; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Norge Theater Opens Saturday – New West Side Theater Makes Formal Bow in Kenosha This Week —— The Norge theater, formerly the Strand on Twenty-Second avenue, will have its first program on Saturday afternoon. The theater, completely re-decorated and re-equipped at a cost of $10,000, makes its introduction as one of the prettiest neighborhood theaters in this section with every effort made to provide the most comfortable and most convenient entertainment available. Opening Saturday with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in “Behind the Front”, the theater will begin a policy of entertainment that will make it one of the most popular show houses of the city. Everything in the way of equipment is the most modern in the industry and nothing has been spared to make the Norge as attractive as possible. Opening the programs will be Miss Anna DeFazio, a brilliant young Kenosha musician at the golden-voiced Bartola organ. Miss DeFazio will be the regular organist at the theater. An orchestra offering popular music will also take part in the day’s program. A special program has been planned for Sunday beginning at 1 o’clock. The motion picture feature is Richard Dix’s famous “Lucky Devil”. In the evening there will be vaudeville. For the first time Kenosha will have an opportunity to hear and see the Salerno brbthers, famous entertainers in voice and accordion from WGN Chicago. The theater management will offer souvenirs to the ladies on the opening day. Fred N. Logue, the manager of the Norge, will be present to greet the many patrons of the theater. The policies of the theater as announced today by Manager Logue include performances each evening and matinees on Saturday and Sunday with vaudeville on Sundays. Popular admission prices will prevail. (March 31, 1927 – Kenosha Evening News)
NEW THEATRE OPENS – New Columbia Theatre on Elizabeth St Opens to Public Thursday – The new Columbia Theatre, located on Elizabeth street just west of Howland avenue, was opened to the public for the first time yesterday. No pains have been spared to make the new theatre the neatest and most attractive motion picture theatre in the city. Thoroughly ventilated, well heated and lighted, showing the best of motion pictures, it promises to become a popular place for lovers of good pictures. The theatre has a seating capacity of 500 and every seat in the house is a desirable one, giving a perfect view of the screen.
(Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Nov 1913, Fri. Page 9)
FIRE IN A THEATRE – Fire Breaks Out In New Grand Theatre During First Performance Saturday Night —– The new Grand Theatre in one of the rooms in the Meyers block on Market Square which opened for business on Thursday evening had a baptism of fire on Saturday evening when flames broke out in the little compartment in the front of the theatre used for housing the picture machine and before they had been extinguished by the department, damage to the amount of nearly a thousand dollars resulted. Fortunately there was no panic connected with the fire. The first show of the evening was just well under way when the flames broke out and there were about 200 people in the theatre. Some man saw a small line of smoke coming out of the moving picture compartment and gave the alarm of fire and the people began to stampede toward the doors, but the men in charge of the theatre showed great presence of mind and quickly opened the exits at the rear of the building and the audience managed to get out of the building without any one being injured. In the meantime the flames were burning furiously in the little compartment where the moving picture machine was in operation. John McConnell Jr., one of the managers of the theatre, was in charge of the operation of the machine. He was throwing an advertising picture on the screen and at the same time was re-winding one of the long films which had been shown earlier in the evening. A portion of the film dropped down and struck a hot wire connected with the machine and it burned like timber. The machine was supposed to be a fire proof machine, but it was burned up in the flames which followed the burning of the film. McConnell proved himself a hero on the occasion as he hurriedly shouted to the ushers to get the crowd out of the building and then attempted to smother the fire with his bare hands. In his efforts he was terribly burned on the right hand. The flesh on this hand was burned to the bone and it will be weeks before he is able to use the hand again. The flames in the little compartment were so hot that the big plate glass windows in the front of the building were cracked and considerable damage was done to the decorations of the little theatre. The picture machine is considered a complete loss as are the two large films. The loss on the machine and films is placed at $500 and there was no insurance to cover this loss. The damage to the building will probably be four hundred dollars more but this loss is covered by insurance. As a result of the fire, Chief Isermann sent out men to look over the other theatres having moving picture machines in operation. The Columbia Theatre did not open on Sunday and the machine at the Bijou was operated with a member of the fire department with a chemical on guard. Today all of the theatres are lining the rooms in which the moving picture machines are operated with tin and asbestos and there will be no great danger from this sort of fire in the future. The managers of the Grand Theatre are planning to re-open the house just as soon as the damage done by the fire can be repaired with a new machine. {Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Dec 1908, Mon. Page 1}
New State Theatre owner plans to revive the downtown Kingsport venue (December 2019, WJHL)– Mark Hunt plans to bring new life to a historic landmark of downtown Kingsport. “It’s been an infatuation I guess, and a dream of mine since I was in my twenties to have a little theater,” Hunt said. Hunt is a Kingsport native and owner of auto repair business The Body Shop. But now he also owns a piece of Model City history. Hunt purchased the State Theatre on Broad Street in November from Kingsport real estate agency Urban Synergy. He plans to restore the venue into an entertainment spot for the whole community. “We’re going to try to get it back just the way it was,” said Hunt. “Just tweak it a little bit, outside of just [showing] movies. Try to get some live music or stand-up comedy. Mix it up a little bit.” The State Theatre opened in 1936 and drew in audiences with movies and plays throughout the decades. Its doors closed in the 1970s and the building fell into disrepair. There have been several owners and temporary businesses in the building since. Hunt says there’s plenty of work to be done to restore the State’s former glory. “The seats are gone, the stage is there. Ninety to ninety five percent of the electrical is finished. So the big part is over.”
Hunt’s efforts have the City of Kingsport’s support. “Downtown buildings and especially theatres from back in the day, those are harder venues [to revive] because of your capacity and your seating,” said Jason Hudson, Kingsport’s economic development director. “It takes passion. And having a local business owner who has that passion to bring it downtown is the best chance of success for the theater.“ Hunt said the State Theatre will likely reopen in 2021, but a late 2020 opening is also possible. “We’re going to try to shake Kingsport up a little bit here in the next couple of years,” said Hunt.
The CASWELL Theatre building was built in the late 1800s and originally operated as a store. The theatre opened in 1938 and was owned by the North Carolina Amusement Company. The first movie to play was ‘Stablemates’, starring Mickey Rooney. The price of admission was $.10 for children and $.20 for adults. The theatre closed its doors in 1957.
(January 13, 1920)–
Union Dye Works Regain Lease on Blue Mill Theatre Building and Start $45000 Addition – LARGE ADDITION FOR UNION DYE – Cleaning and Dyeing Co to Erect Big Building Adjoining Their Present Quarters to Make Room for Their Growing Business ……… Announcement was made this morning by Louis and Morris Plous, the proprietors of the Union Dye Works, that they had secured from the Collins Amusement Company the lease for the building formerly known as the Blue Mill Theatre and that the building would be remodeled immediately as a large addition to the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Two stories will be added to the present structure and this with the purchase of new equipment for the building will cost in the neighborhood of $45,000. Work was started this morning in dismantling the Blue Mill Theatre to make way for the new addition. The entire interior of the theatre was torn out today and as soon as the work advances far enough the front will be torn out to be replaced by one similar to the front of the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Work will be rushed on the addition by Contractor Otto Windorf in an attempt to complete the building by the first of March to have it in readiness for the spring business of the company. Louis Plous, one of the owners of the Union Dye Company in explaining the plans for the- new addition, declared that the business of the company had long outgrown its present quarters and that the company had long sought to secure the present site for their new building. The mail order business of the company has increased by leaps and bounds and the new addition will be turned over largely for the handling of this business. There will also be quartered in the new building a complete dyeing department which will leave more room in the present building of the company for its cleaning establishment. Contracts have also been let by the company for a large amount of new machinery which will make the plant one of the most complete cleaning and dyeing institutions of the kind in Wisconsin. The addition will cause the addition of a large number of employees to the pay-roll of the company, bringing the total above seventy-five. The transaction closed this morning marks the passing of the Blue Mill Theatre, one of Kenosha’s best known film houses. The building was built by the Plous Brothers several years ago and has been leased and managed for several years by the Collins Amusement Company in connection with the management of the Burke Theatre. During this time it has showed many of the film successes of the country and has been one of the most popular playhouses of the city. (Kenosha Evening News)
The Village Board, at its August 11th Village Board meeting at 8:00 p.m. will consider the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation to deny a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of the Libertyville theater building. The meeting will be held virtually due to the Restore Illinois Phase 4 restrictions. Members of the public who wish to comment may do so prior to the meeting by sending an e-mail to or dropping off a written comment to the Village Hall at 118 W. Cook Avenue. The meeting agenda may be found here: www.libertyville.com/agendacenter . The virtual meeting link is located at the top of the agenda. Members of the public may also comment during the meeting by using the chat function or sending an e-mail to .
Daily Herald, Feb. 27, 2015: Community cheers refurbished Antioch Theatre’s encore
Converted from a live performance venue in 1924, the Antioch Theatre never was known for the ornate architecture seen in some other suburban movie palaces of the era. But for 90 years, it has been a mainstay of downtown Antioch, a place where generations of residents in the small town were drawn for entertainment and camaraderie.
Over time, the theater lost its luster. By last summer, attendance was down, the building was in extensive disrepair and an auction in lieu of foreclosure was a possibility.
Downtown business owner Tim Downey bought the building with the hope of a rekindling the attraction.
The result is a complete $750,000 renovation and upgrade to digital equipment and the conversion of an adjoining retail space into a second, more intimate theater.
The encore of the Antioch Theatre began Friday afternoon and the community responded.
For kids, the attraction in the smaller space was “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water.”
The audience also filled 160 floor seats and 56 balcony seats in the main theater to see “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”
“This is great,” said Mike Malone of Antioch. “We’re really excited to see the theater reopen up. It’s great to be back”
“Your downtown is still the social center, it’s the heartbeat of most communities,” said Mayor Larry Hanson, who grew up in Antioch.
And once again, the Antioch Theatre is contributing to that sentiment.
The last picture show
(Joyce Whitis, Mar. 25, 2007)
“Five or six years ago they had a big shin dig up in Archer City when several hundred movie buffs motored into town. Scattered among the guests were movie stars, Jeff Bridges and Cloris Leachman, who played in The last Picture Show, a movie that first opened in 1972. The occasion for this celebration and a trip down memory lane, was the first showing of that movie in the town in which it was depicted nearly 40 years ago. The movie wasn’t popular in town in ‘72. This time would be different. Folks had matured so they said.
You remember that Archer City’s Pulitzer Prize winning author, Larry McMurtry, wrote that book about growing up in a small Texas town. Everyone assumed that the Show was about Archer City where McMurtry lived and went to high school. Therefore practically everybody there was more than shocked when they read in that book that the high school basketball coach’s wife had an affair with one of the students. That was not a Texas thing to do and it ruffled more than a few feathers. And then there was that scene where the lovely Cybil Shepherd and her friends went skinny dipping in a pool in Wichita Falls.
My Lord! What next?
That was the way we thought 40 years ago, and my dear, times have changed. Today it seems that an awful lot of teenagers are proud to parade across a computer screen and unblushingly reveal activities that would have sent their mothers underground for life. Not only do these children get vocal but their language would melt industrial strength paint right off the farm machinery.
Everybody at that party in Archer City seemed more than happy to lay down a couple of hundred to see the 37-year-old movie, The Last Picture Show. This time it was almost in the original movie theater. Actually the picture show which was the subject of the book and resulting flick, burned sometime in the mid-sixties. This showing of the film that has become a classic was next door to the old Royal Theater. The new building, built behind an old storefront, is now a performing arts theater.
I can’t help but wonder what arts will be performing in Archer City. Maybe book reviews. The town has close to half a million hard copies. McMurtry himself owns three warehouses packed to the rafters and as if that wasn’t enough, somebody put in his own bookstore.
I have a strong attachment for that little town with the beautiful old courthouse and the streets, mostly deserted, except for tourists with armloads of books, moving from book warehouse to book warehouse. My memory zips back to a cool fall evening in 1945. Football is in the air, Texas High School Football, that is. Chillicothe’s Eagles are about to take on Archer’s Wildcats and our pep squad is marching to its own drum down Main Street. There isn’t much traffic, there never is, and when a car comes up behind us, we just saunter to one side of the pavement and march on.
When our line passed the Royal Theater I remember shouting to my best friend, “The Strand is bigger than that.” I was referring to The Strand Theater in Chillicothe where everybody that I knew saw every show that came to town. The “hubba hubba” crowd (that was before cool, and bad and in the ‘40s meant really hot stuff) sat on the back row and we never let the younger kids infringe on those seats. The back row, though not stated publicly, was reserved for high school seniors to sit and hold hands, sigh and maybe steel a kiss when the usher wasn’t looking.
Like the story line in The Last Picture Show, my hometown was also centered around the movie theater. That’s where you met your friends when you were in grade school; where your beau took you on your first date; where you watched that other world unfold on a flat piece of canvas and its power could transport you to some beautiful, romantic place far away where only the handsome and brave lived.
Movies were an education for my generation, not just entertainment. Gone With the Wind set my heart pounding and ignited a fire inside and a love for my Southern heritage that has never been extinguished. I’ve seen that movie probably 50 times and every time I cry with Scarlet at the end. Stagecoach brought us John Wayne. Judy Garland took us by the hand and led us through the Technicolor land of dreams and we closed our eyes and clicked our heels and knew that we had been transported to a wonderland. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers sang their way into our hearts because the good guy always won. In our world that was the way it was.
On trips “back home” I always stop in Archer City to buy a book or take yet one more picture of what remains of the old Royal Theater. In Chilli the Strand is long gone, cleared off by a giant yellow machine with a tremendous front-end loader that just cranked up and pushed the source of all our dreams into dust. I still have a piece of it though. Once, after the building had stood vacant for a long time, staring out at the street like an old woman who forgot where she was, I went inside and sat down in all the dirt that had collected on the seats in the back row, I sat there all by myself for quiet awhile and thought about those wonderful years and all the friends I knew and with whom I shared moments in time. Many of those friends are buried in the little cemetery outside of town, others I lost track of and have no idea of what roads they took in life. After awhile I got up and ripped a piece of art deco molding from the wall and walked with it back to my car.
That red and white trim is nailed to the wall in my utility room and it gives me pleasure to stare at it and remember how it was in the 1940s at the last picture show in town. I could write my own book about that."
The new marquee has been installed, a recreation of the original, and awaits power.
Poblocki Sign Company spokesman Blair Benes said “Members of our team spent time in the city archives to find as many old black and white photos of the original theater as possible. That, in conjunction with Kahler Slater, the architect, and MacRostie Historic Advisors we were able to pool our resources and determine as accurately as possible things like color, bulb style and spacing, the pattern of the stain glass element” but with LED technology and digital displays. Once power is connected, a “flipping of the switch” event is planned to as a formal celebration of the new 13-foot-tall 32-foot-wide marquee and 52-foot-tall 11-foot-wide 1,200-bulb blade sign.
Benes credited dozens of Poblocki workers involved in the three-month fabrication and roughly three weeks of on-site prep work. “The golden crown was hand-spray applied painted to achieve the gradient you see at the top. Due to all of the detailed scroll and channel work these displays spent more time in prep and taping work than actually in the paint booths.”
Erin Dorbin photo.
Erin Dorbin photo.
Eulogy for a Movie House - The forgotten Comfort Theatre burns to the ground (By Matthew Prigge, SHEPHERD EXPRESS, May 25, 20115) - Mother’s Foods, formerly the Comfort Theatre, was lost to a fire this week. - Last Tuesday, Mother’s Food and Liquor (2438 W. Hopkins) burned. The fire punched through the roof of the building, with witnesses claiming the flames shot as high as fifty feet into the air. The building was a total loss and damages are estimated at more than $1 million. Residents of the Franklin Heights neighborhood around Mother’s lamented the loss as the latest in a long, slow decline of the area. In this broadcast on the fire, Sidney Fumbanks, a nearby barber, said his shop was the last business on the block, the last gathering place for neighbors. “I guess that’s what happens in these neighborhoods, or when we don’t have the money,” he told CBS 58. “The dollar don’t stay, it just comes and goes.” Buildings like the long, two-story brick structure that housed Mother’s are rarely eulogized. In fact, had it not been for the store’s rather unique name, I probably would have missed the news of the fire and you’d be reading about something else right now. But I remembered the Mother’s sign from an afternoon in 2010 I spent with my photographer friend Erin Dorbin, documenting the city’s still-standing former movie theater buildings. The Mother’s building opened as the Comfort Theatre in 1914, the neighborhood’s first motion picture house in a city that had over sixty of them. No longer would the largely German and working-class residents of the Heights need to trek all the way down to the Paris or Oasis theaters on Center Street to watch single-reel chase-n-wallop comedies or starchy melodramas. The Comfort had a simple layout — an inclined floor with six hundred seats and a small stage — but was a veritable modern marvel when compared to the movie houses going into operation just a decade before. Most of those were converted storefronts, with a few hundred folding chairs, a white sheet tacked to one wall and little else. Fred Maertz commissioned the building and was the Comfort’s first proprietor. He had cut his teeth in the movie business by running the nearby Paris Theatre (which closed in 1930, but still stands today). Maertz made the Comfort a family affair, with his sons Edward and William learning the trade under his management. The Comfort also gave young projectionist Charles Trampe his first regular job. Trampe later went into the business for himself, running Milwaukee’s Climax Theatre and buying Bluebird Films, one of the city’s major distribution houses. He also (briefly) served on the Milwaukee Motion Picture Commission, the city’s film censor board. Franklin Heights’ love of the movies, however, proved to be more than the little Comfort could handle. By the mid-1920s it was clear that a larger house was needed and Edward began to raise the cash that would eventually build the breathtaking Zenith Theatre (which also still stands) just down the block at 2498 W. Hopkins. According to Larry Widen and Judi Anderson’s excellent history of Milwaukee theaters, Silver Screens, Maertz followed his father’s example and employed his children and other family members at the Zenith. When his daughter married in the 1930s, Maertz hired a Pathe News cameraman to film the wedding and featured it as a “special edition” newsreel at the Zenith the following week. The opening of the Zenith in 1926 could easily have been the death of the Comfort. However, the little house managed to survive for another eight years as Franklin Height’s “number two” house. While the Zenith could book films within a few months of their premieres at the downtown movie palaces, the Comfort was probably relegated to running pictures that might be a year or more past their release dates. Most weeks, the Comfort’s program listings did not even appear in the newspaper. The Comfort closed in 1934, at the tail-end of a national wave of theater closings prompted by the Great Depression and the conversion of the movies from silence to sound (no record survives that suggests the Comfort ever installed sound equipment). Shortly after the Comfort shut off its lights, the building was reopened as the Mayfair Café. Billed as “one the most unusual cafes in the middle west,” the Mayfair was the city’s first nightspot with terraced seating - using the theater’s old pitched floor to offer diners an uncompromised view of their nightly floor shows. Until the end, the old “COMFORT” engraving was still visible above the building’s entryway. The novelty of the Mayfair seemed to wear off pretty quickly because by 1935, the place was listed as the Aztec Night Club in the city directory. In 1941, a listing appears for the Comfort Bar and Tavern (the “Comfort” name, etched into the stone above the entrance, was still visible when the building burned). A bowling alley was installed in the building sometime in the post-war years, but was evidently gone by 1971 when it was known as the J&J Bar. After standing vacant for a time in the early 1980s, it was known as Andy’s Place and the Hop On Inn before becoming Mother’s sometime in the 2000s. I saw the building only briefly, just long enough for Erin to snap a picture before moving up the block to shoot the old Zenith (we were actually stopped between the two by a pair of police officers asking us what we were doing in the neighborhood). The trip took us to a number of Milwaukee neighborhoods that have undergone similar changes since the heyday of the movies. We talked with a couple of other people that day, mostly locals who asked what were up to, most surprised to hear that some old dumpy building had once been a movie theater. In the grand scheme, the loss of an old theater building is fairly inconsequential, much less so than the loss of a business in an area that badly needs them. But nonetheless, the loss of the building is more than just the loss of a store and a place to hang out. Soon, the ruins of Mother’s will be moved away and another empty lot will be left behind. Not just a vacant patch of land, but a place where something is missing. (Check out matthewjprigge.com for all kinds of fun stuff, and listen for the WMMF radio show on 91.7 WMSE. Matthew J. Prigge is a freelance author and historian from Milwaukee. He is the author of four books, and wrote weekly blogs for shepherdexpress.com on topics of local history.)
Stage area, 2020.
Urban spelunking: Mitchell Street’s former Park Theater & Bilt-Rite facade (By Bobby Tanzilo, Senior Editor/Writer, Urban Milwaukee, Dec. 1, 2020)
Almost like magic it appeared and then, voila!, gone again. “It” is a 1940s two-tone pigmented structural glass facade on an 1890s building at 723 W. Mitchell St. Added when Bilt-Rite Furniture opened a second location there in 1946, the stunning Art Moderne facade – made of a product called Vitrolite – was covered with drab steel panels 40 years later. Back in March, after artist Shane McAdams, whose gallery Real Tinsel Gallery is nearby at 1013 W. Mitchell St., bought the building in 2019, the City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission wondered aloud at a meeting whether or not the panels survived, though it sounded pessimistic about the possibility. Instead, in mid-November, workers spent three days removing the steel to find that the George Zagel-designed facade had, in fact, survived in, if not all, then at least much of its glory. The problem, however, is that many of the glass panels were broken. “It has to come down,” McAdams told me on Friday, as a crew prepared to remove it. “It’s dangerous. But I’m going to recreate it as closely as possible.” And, so, when I returned on Monday, the facade was completely gone, giving us a glimpse of how the building looked when it was built in 1890 (although not entirely, as the former window openings were blocked up and replacing with new fenestration). The three-story building and its two-story neighbor – designed by architect Henry Lotter – at 725 have, it seems, always been owned in tandem, connected as they are by an internal staircase at the back. While the taller structure has spent most of its life as a furniture store, it did have Amsterdam Tea, which also sold coffee and “holiday goods” as a tenant at the turn of the 20th century. The location was an outpost of a Downtown business that had two locations in the city center. This arrangement was quite common for many years, when Mitchell Street was second only to Downtown when it came to retail corridors in Milwaukee. In fact, when Amsterdam closed, the spot became a Mitchell Street branch store of the Milwaukee Green Stamp Trading Company, though by 1906 it was home to the Propkop & Szatkowski Furniture Company. The following year, Julius Wasniewski, who had been selling furniture, stoves and crockery in the two-story building, converted it into a theater for live Vaudeville performances, calling it the Park. But Wasniewski didn’t appear to stay long at the Park, perhaps because of the fire. On Sept. 9, 1907, a three-alarm fire broke out in the rooms at the back of the building above the theater, which were occupied by vaudeville performers. There, a gasoline stove used for cooking was believed to have exploded, sending flames into the back staircase (pictured below) and into the second floor of the adjacent furniture store. Once there, it destroyed everything on the second floor, and most everything on the floor below was ruined by water. Wasniewski denied that the fire started inside the Park, but, reported the Journal, “It is said by neighbors living on the third floor of the adjoining building, however, that the rooms on the second floor to the rear of the theater (two photos below) are occupied by the show people and that they frequently use a gasoline stove there to prepare their meals. Mrs. Steven Mendowicz, who occupies the third floor rear of the furniture store was the first to discover the fire. She was in the kitchen with Mrs. Prokop, who lives in the front part. Shortly after the smoke was discovered the room was in flames and it was thought that the two women perished, but they got out safely.” By January 1908, newspapers carried classified ads, offering for sale or lease, a 400-seat Vaudeville theater, and four months later, the Park Theater manager A. Bartell placed an ad seeking, “a good hustling partner,” claiming, “I have a chance to make some money.” For a while, ambitious theater man Edward Wagner operated the Park Theater, perhaps after he left a smaller nearby theater in 1908. With his wife Martha, Wagner had opened The Emporium, a nickel theater at 626 W. Mitchell St., in 1906. According to Larry Widen and Judi Anderson’s “Silver Screens,” the Wagners quickly renamed the 175-seat Emporium the Imperial 5¢ Theater to highlight its admission cost. In addition to the Park, Wagner would go on to operate the Happy Hour at 1814 S. Muskego (1910-24, 590 seats) and the Wagner at 1636 W. Forest Home (1913-17, 371). By 1912, Wagner also had acquired theaters in Waukesha, Hartford and Racine. He gave them all up by 1919 to run the Garden Theater on Milwaukee Avenue in South Milwaukee, which he did until his passing in 1930. An early view of the Park, perhaps from a postcard, shows a flag-draped entrance with hoardings announcing performers and a man standing out front. Perhaps that was one of the barkers, the men who would coax patrons into the theater by touting its array of attractions. Anton Tardick was a barker at the Park in 1909 and had the misfortune that February of being among four arrested at local theaters for breaking the city’s anti-noise ordinance, which hemmed in the barkers and could lead to fines as hefty as $25 or 30 days in jail. But Tardick and the others argued that the ordinance was unreasonable and, therefore, illegal. When he was found guilty and fined $1 plus court costs, he appealed. Whether or not Tardick returned is unclear, but the Park continued on and in March 1909 it advertised for a steady position for a singer. That November it sought an “illustrated song singer,” warning, “no boozer,” suggesting the folks tapped to sing along – often to piano accompaniment – to a series of projected slides that illustrated the lyrics could be less than upstanding. The following March, the Park sought violinists. Though already by 1909, the Park is referred to as a nickelodeon, suggesting it was already screening moving pictures. As vaudeville faded, the theater, like most such venues, transitioned entirely to film. A 1914 building permit shows the Park being run by Joseph J. Schwartz and described as a “picture theater.” Schwartz had been at the theater since at least 1911. In 1916, it was running matinee films at 2 p.m. and advertised its content as “refined high class pictures.” In 1930, the Park found itself embroiled in a dispute between rival projectionists unions that many believed had led to a series of bombings, more stinky than deadly nature, though one was more sinister. In May of that year, while patrons watched the 1927 silent picture “The Rose of Kildare,” starring Helene Chadwick, Pat O'Malley and Henry B. Walthall, on a Wednesday night, they were forced out when a “tear gas bomb” went off in an auditorium air vent. Theater manager Cyrus J. Roddy couldn’t explain what happened, but noted in a newspaper article that there had been “some difficulty with labor,” lately, adding that, “on two occasions the front of the place was smeared with paint.” Detectives Leroy Gittens and Ralph Hostettler, according to a Milwaukee Sentinel report, “braved the heavy atmoshpere to investigate. Some of the chemical was also found in a newspaper near the rear exit.” Similar bombs were ignited in about 50 theaters over the course of the next two years, and in August 1932, it was discovered that at least some were made by a pair of teens who made the bombs using the chemistry skills they learned during their studies at Boys Tech High School. The boys admitted to setting off the devices in the Avalon and the Mirth on Kinnickinnic Avenue, and the Granada on 11th and Mitchell. They said they also attempted one at the Park that didn’t explode. It’s possible other bombs did figure into the union battle and the entire thing culminated in a dynamite bomb that exploded at the Parkway Theater on 35th and Lisbon, injuring six people, in October 1932. The Park was the scene of yet another projectionists union spat in 1953 and that may well be what led to the demise of the theater. That summer, William J. Schmitt took over the Park after it had closed in June and said he was running it, according to a Journal article at the time, “on a shoestring” and was “taking in very little money.” That’s why, he said, he refused to pay his projectionists, who went on strike, leading to a union picket line out front. Schmitt said he couldn’t afford to pay union rates of $92.74 a week for 43.5 hours of work, plus $3.71 for the pension fund. Before it closed the theater had been a member of the Allied Independent Theater Owners Association of Wisconsin and thus had a contract with the union. When Schmitt reopened it, the Park was entirely independent and had no contract with projectionists. The action marked the first time in about 20 years that the union had picketed a theater, according to the article. Ten days later, the Journal reported that Schmitt had closed the theater on Sept. 13, not, he claimed due to the union action, but rather due to “other adversities,” including his inability to pay the rent, the arrival of a film that was in poor condition and therefore presumably unplayable, plus a series of demands from the health department, including that he paint the auditorium as well as the lobby, “because of damage caused by high spirited children who threw ink on the lobby walls.” And he still owed the projectionists their pay. Schmitt said he planned to continue in the business, but not likely at the Park. He also claimed he’d run his own projector, bellowing that “the union won’t stop me,” though the union promised to picket any theater at which Schmitt worked as his own projectionist. It was at this point that the theater appears to have been absorbed into the furniture business next door, where Prokop and Szatkowski had operated for 25 years, closing in 1931. (Notably, Prokop and Szatkowski listed the building for sale in 1923, but ultimately stayed on, although at that point it appears Propkop was on his own. An advertisement offers a glimpse of the pre-vitrolite facade.) While Mitchell’s Salon opened an outpost of its original Downtown location there for a time, the building appears to have continued its run as a furniture retailer and in 1946, Bilt-Rite Furniture became the latest business to add a Mitchell Street location. An October 1946 ad boasted that Bilt-Rite was, “opening a beautiful new furniture store to serve you. The entire interior of our store has been brightened and newly decorated into a completely modern, colorful, brilliant shopping center designed to make your shopping enjoyable, convenient and efficient.” Bilt-Rite had been founded on 3rd and Garfield by Irwin Kerns and his son-in-law Sol Forman. It’s now owned by the fourth generation of the same family. At the time it opened the Mitchell Street location, Bilt-Rite tapped architect George Zagel to design the eye-catching pink and mint green vitrolite Art Moderne facade that covered nearly the entire front of the building. The old, more traditional fenestration was replaced with a pair of circular openings that flanked a two-story rectangle of glass block in the center of the wall. Born in Milwaukee in 1893, Zagel had studied both engineering and architecture by the time he arrived in the practice of John W. Menge Jr. During World War I, Zagel served in the Army Corps of Engineers and then stayed on in Europe to study the architecture of France and Germany. Returning to Milwaukee, he became one of the most in-demand architects in the city, designing more than 1,500 buildings over his long career. Zagel’s facade endured for four decades before it was covered up with the steel panels, perhaps because some of the vitrolite was already failing. In 2006, Bilt-Rite moved to a new, larger home – having long since closed its 3rd Street store – on 54th and Layton in Greenfield. In 2010, the Robles Self-Service Center, the first social services office focused on assisting the South Side Latinx community, opened on the first floor, and has been there ever since. Next door, in the vacant Park Theater space, McAdams – who bought the building in 2019 – plans to open a cafe and is considering naming it Bilt-Rite, if the furniture dynasty will allow it. On the upper levels – where you can still see the old theater office in the front and the old performers quarters at the back – he’s working on plans for either artist studios, apartments or some combination of both. At the back of the building at 723, on the top floor where there will be a large loft space for rent, he envisions a two-story apartment with access to the roof, where the views are quite spectacular. Though there are very few traces left of the theater – a sloping space where the lobby was, for example – McAdams hopes he may find more when he begins work to remove a dropped ceiling and wall-covering panels in the former auditorium. “I’d like to preserve anything I find,” he says. “I want Mitchell Street to thrive,” he says. “But also we want to be sensitive to maintaining its character.”
New CAPITOL Theatre website: www.capitoltheaterracine.com
(From ArchitectureChicago PLUS: Sunday, December 18, 2011) On the 30th anniversary of its closing, Andy Pierce reminds us what’s so magical about the Uptown Theatre. —
Today, December 19th, marks the 30th anniversary of the day Chicago’s famed Uptown Theatre closed its doors. By the time I got around to it in the 1960s, the 4,300 seat former movie palace designed by Rapp & Rapp was past its prime. Apart from the John Frankenheimer masterpiece The Train, most of the films I saw there were unmemorable - The Ballad of Josie? The Dave Clark Five in Having a Wild Weekend? - but I was always blown away by the grandeur, beauty, and sheer scale of the place.
Since its closing, the Uptown has suffered the indignities of being owned by some of the city’s most infamous slumlords, leaks, floods, freezes, neglect and decay. In 2008, it was acquired by Jam Productions, which already books the Riviera across the street. Last October, representatives from JAM, mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office and freshman Chicago alderman Harry Osterman and James Cappleman met to discuss how a revived Uptown could anchor a new vision for an Uptown Entertainment Center.
In 2006, the price tag bandied about for fully restoring the Uptown was $30 to $40 million. Today, it’s more like $70 million. If hope is to be had, it might be found in the examples of two New York City theaters, the 1929 2800-seat Beacon, which withstood bad times and attempts to “improve” it into a disco to emerge as a beloved and active concert venue despite being far from the Mid- Manhattan Theatre district. Even more striking is the comparison to the 3,200 seat Loew’s Kings Theater in Brooklyn, designed by the famed Chicago movie palace architects Rapp & Rapp, left to rot ever since its 1977 closing. Like the Uptown, those who cherished the theater battled to keep it alive for revival, and their efforts were rewarded in a project, launched last year for a 2014 completion, to restore the Loew’s Kings to its former glory as the centerpiece of the renewal of the Flatbush shopping district. The city of New York has committed $50 million to the project’s expected $70 million cost.
This week’s edition of Time Out Chicago has an excellent article by Andy Pierce, one of the people most instrumental in Friends of the Uptown who have been tireless in championing saving the theater. We’re privileged to have Andy provide us his overview of the history, importance and future potential of the Uptown …
What makes a theater a movie palace? At some point, almost any surviving vintage theater is referred to by fans or reporters as a “movie palace.”
The long-closed Uptown Theater, 4816 N. Broadway, is truly an early example of the very large movie palaces of the mid-to-late 1920s. It is also one of the last great movie palaces to not yet be restored, renovated, radically altered or demolished. Chicago’s remaining open and operating movie palaces – used for live performances – are the Riviera, Chicago, Congress and Oriental theaters. The Central Park has survived as a church since 1971 and the restored New Regal (originally Avalon) has been closed intermittently since 2003. [Note: Our Palace Theater was not a movie palace. Rather, it was built for Big-Time Orpheum Vaudeville.] Arguably the most profitable themed entertainment of the day, Balaban & Katz “presentation houses,” such as the Uptown, featured continuous performance of three or more shows daily; stage shows with themes, costumes and sets planned in consideration of the feature film; a full orchestra rising and falling on multiple stage lifts, with a conductor at the helm of projector speeds and tempos to keep on schedule and massive theatre organs to accompany the orchestra and provide the aural environments and voices for the early and yet-still-silent stars of the screen.
In B&K’s deluxe presentation houses such as the Uptown, a system of colored cove lights controlled the accent lighting of the auditorium such that the audience was entirely encapsulated in the mood of the moment on screen; for example yellow for sunrise, red for war, blue for night, purple for love.
Most of America’s movie palaces carried a Neo-Classical theme cohesively throughout their public spaces and were lavishly decorated not only with plaster relief but also with fanciful polychrome paint schemes, damask, drapes, elaborate chandeliers, antique oil paintings, marble sculpture groups and fountains. Patron comfort and service were augmented in the Uptown for example with amenities such as hat racks beneath seats, a parcel check, luxurious men’s and women’s lounges and a fanciful playroom with storybook themes for children.
Grand entrance lobbies gave standees a place to wait behind ropes while the previous audience exited through other lobbies and ambulatories. A full, working stage with scenery, a theater pipe organ, and multiple thousands of seats in floor, mezzanine and balcony areas completed the movie palace formula over tens of thousands of square feet of real estate.
Baptized in oil, labor and love, friends of Chicago’s historic Uptown Theater, 4816 N. Broadway, are recognizing a peculiar anniversary for one of the world’s largest and most lavish surviving movie palaces today, Monday, Dec. 19, with a letter-writing campaign. Please see the Uptown Theatre, Chicago, Facebook page for details:
While the Uptown has been closed for 30 of its 86 years, demolition by neglect was held at bay largely through the work of volunteers who kept the theater graffiti free as high as they could reach, who stoked her shopworn boiler and who kept the landmark interior as dry as possible, using patches upon patches of hydraulic cement to seal cracks in steel roof drains that had been pushed open by ice. Uptown’s 12 different roof surfaces drain through this system of pipes. The failure of this system in the arctic winters of the early 1980s allowed water to damage to some interior areas of ornate plaster ceilings and walls.
This less-than-glamorous anniversary comes as both Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) are avowed boosters of the Uptown Square business and entertainment district and have voiced their cooperation and support for renovating the Uptown.
The theater was built at a cost of $4 million between 1924 and 1925 by the local, family-owned company of Balaban & Katz, following the success of their Central Park, Riviera, Tivoli and Chicago theaters. “Built For All Time,” its over-the-top, neo-Spanish Baroque design by the Chicago architectural firm of C.W. and George L. Rapp was touted as “An Acre of Seats in a Magic City.” The Uptown has a marquee bigger than a yacht, three lobbies as big as train stations, and boasts more than 4,300 seats in its vast floor, mezzanine and balcony.
The opening of the Uptown was commemorated in the August 17, 1925 edition of Balaban & Katz’s weekly magazine. It’s a fascinating snapshot of both the Uptown and 1920’s Chicago. You can download the entire issue courtesy of the Compass Rose Cultural Crossroads website. Many historians note how the popularity of television in American homes curtailed the tremendous number of movie patrons. However, the late Bro. Andrew Corsini Fowler was quick to remind me that our fascination with radio programs took the first cut out of movie palace receipts. [Note: Bro. Andrew was a cofounder of Theatre Historical Society of America in 1969 alongside impresario and theater organ enthusiast Ben Hall, the Time-Life Editor and author of “The Best Remaining Seats."
As entertainment tastes and choices changed through the years, the Uptown was operated by successors to B&K before it was leased by the local Rabiela family in the late 1970s for Spanish-language films and special ticketed events. Interestingly, Jerry Mickelson, of Jam Productions, the Chicago music promoter who booked the Uptown for years and staged the last public concert there in 1981, is part of the LLC that owns the Uptown today.
“It was a very sad day for me on Dec. 19, 1981, when I told Rene Rabiela Sr. after Jam’s concert with the J. Geils Band that the theater was uninhabitable for the public use without repairs,” Mickelson recalled in an interview. “The washrooms were barely functioning and Jam had to pay for the oil to heat the theater.”
Mickelson credits local officials and longtime volunteers for the Uptown surviving decades of deferred maintenance and neglect through a succession of owners and receivership. Also, the City of Chicago invested in more than $1 million in court-ordered stabilization work and repairs, which removed and stored decorative terra cotta and replaced the system of pipes through which the rain and snow melt from 12 roof surfaces drains. It was this system’s failure in the arctic winters of the early 1980s which caused water damage to some interior areas of ornate plaster ceilings and walls.
While there is no shortage of public sentiment for the theater, the riddle of the Uptown is how to fund a restoration in the tens of millions of dollars such that the historic, block-filling movie palace will serve the entertainment and special events needs of the ticket-buying public of today.
“There is a new energy that has been infused by Mayor Emanuel, whose vision is to create an entertainment district that will provide an unprecedented economic and cultural development opportunity for this great neighborhood,” Mickelson said. He added that both Ald. Osterman and Ald. James Cappleman (46th) are also working hard to see the Uptown reopen and be a catalyst for enlivening the district.
Being closed 30 years means that most of the Uptown’s friends on Facebook, its persistent advocates and its letter-writing activists are not old enough to have seen a show there.
This 40-year-old writer became attuned to the dedication and resolve of Uptown’s volunteers during a frigid winter day sometime in 1998. We were getting the theater ready for a special event rental such as the Hearts Party, a commitment ceremony or a chamber of commerce dinner. I recall pulling down a rotten 1950s curtain that was hanging in shreds from its hoisted frame atop the grand lobby window facing Broadway and asking if it we should save it. “No. It will be replaced when the restoration happens,” Mangel said matter-of-factly without a hint of “if” in his tone.
At first, it struck me as very sad to think of how he and other volunteers would feel crushed if the building were not saved. Then, after seeing the entire building and working until I was exhausted and could no longer feel my feet or hands, I knew in my heart that the Uptown was too valuable and too extraordinarily beautiful to not save for some future use.
There was a time during my early work for the Uptown when I was ushering on alternate nights for the Auditorium, Chicago and Oriental theaters. I would come and go at times from their carpeted and well-lit spaces to the almost-forgotten Uptown. The disparity of attention and investment was palpable.
I also have a clear memory of sweeping the Uptown’s basement one day in preparation for a tour, listening to President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky hearings being broadcast from Capitol Hill. I thought: What if we had the money being spent on this ridiculousness? Turns out the $30 million Kenneth Starr spent on the investigation could have renovated the Uptown at that time.
Preparing for working within the Uptown was like going on a long, winter hike in the woods. I dressed in layers and packed water, snacks and flashlights. Aside from doing a good deed for the sake of preserving the building, the reward for a day’s work was usually a big, hot meal at Fiesta Mexicana Restaurant or a cocktail at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, both of which are on this historic block.
During rare special events, banner days, really, for the Uptown, I’ve heard the Uptown pulse with incredible dance music for events and seen every Spanish Baroque detail lit up in brilliant color by the industry’s best rented lights, disco balls and lasers. I also had a glimpse of a lost era when I saw the Uptown lit by candles and caressed in the music of a jazz trio. These are precious memories that make the work worthwhile. Together with the two community portraits I have organized in front of the theater for the 75th and 80th opening day anniversaries, I feel as if I have done everything I can do within my means and abilities as a volunteer for and with the Uptown.
On most days, the only performance one can hear in the Uptown is a small jam box tuned to WDCB or WFMT, the distant rhythm of the “L,” and the occasional shrill call of the resident peregrine falcon aerie. Time is at a standstill and the countless griffins, maidens, fascia brutes and laughing kings who populate the Uptown’s walls are simply waiting mutely for their next audience.
Some of the Uptown’s many friends who have said to me “I hope to live to see it restored” over the past 18 years have since passed away. I too had hope that they would be here to celebrate its reopening day. We stay positive as volunteers and have faith that the project will happen.
My trusted friend and mentor Joe DuciBella, the noted theatre historian and designer who succumbed to cancer in 2007, was one of the Uptown’s most tactful and respected advocates. Late at night following Theatre Historical Society of America events, our heady conversations in Joe’s National Register home on Caton Street in Wicker Park would always drift to the Uptown and its chances for revival. Deep down inside, Joe hoped that the Uptown would be restored in her entirety. However, he was a realist and would concede that perhaps it would survive in some repurposed form. Privately, the closest Joe would come to how he truly felt about the Uptown’s odds was to say the matter was “soft territory.”
In addition to DuciBella, who gave countless tours and chronicled its importance in Marquee magazine, the Uptown’s patron saints include Don Lampert, who had the building listed on the National Register and designated as a City of Chicago landmark; Bob Boin, who stored its bronze and crystal chandeliers and is in his third decade of volunteering; Curt Mangel, the restoration consultant who gained the confidence of owners Ken Goldberg and Lou Wolf (notorious tax-sale buyers) so that he could go in, thaw out, dry out and revive the Uptown’s systems in the 1980s; David Syfczak, the volunteer security guard since 1996, who checks all 110 doors and who does plaster repairs, paints and sweeps miles of floors and sidewalks; Jimmy Wiggins, manager of the Riviera Theatre, who oversees operations, maintenance and repairs; and many more unsung friends.
Despite being dark for three decades, the Uptown still has several mature professionals in its corner that did experience it alive with music and audiences. Time will tell if Chicago’s powerbrokers, elected officials, financiers and entertainment industry leaders will find a creative, collaborative and altruistic way to re-lamp the nation’s best closed theater.
(Andy Pierce, a volunteer who helped found Friends of the Uptown in 1998, is a member of the Theatre Historical Society of America.)
On Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 at 4:30 pm CST, the Racine Planning, Heritage, and Design Commission will consider landmark-status for the CAPITOL Theatre via an internet virtual meeting as the 5th item on the agenda.
Access the meeting by phone via 1 (844) 992-4726 and use access code 132 475 2485
Prior to the meeting and public hearing questions can be submitted and/or plans can be requested by contacting the Department of City Development at (262) 636-9151, by facsimile (fax) at (262) 635-5347, or via email at .
Agenda: https://cityofracine.legistar1.com/cityofracine/meetings/2020/11/9126_A_Planning_Heritage_and_Design_Commission_20-11-18_Meeting_Agenda.pdf?id=a957229a-65eb-4789-9b8c-11eaf2a87c63
Committee members include Mario Martinez, Sam Peete, Christina Hefel, Marvin Austin, Mayor Cory Mason, Alderman Trevor Jung.
The Mayfair Theatre auditorium was the location venue for the “Putting On The Ritz” scene in “Young Frankenstein”.
(Chicago Reader, June 20, 1991 by Peter Strazzabosco) Now featured at the Sheridan Theatre: squatters, politics, and two plans for rehabilitation —– Once one of the finest theaters in the country, the Sheridan Theatre now serves as a premier playhouse for vandals, the homeless, and the curious. The front doors now stand open for months at a time, even though the theater has been closed for years. Reckless renovation, fires, and public dumping have all but destroyed the building’s original magnificence. There were plans to resuscitate it a few years ago, but strangely enough they were scuttled by the city. Now two organizations have submitted competing renovation proposals to the city, and if officials think one of them is feasible, the street people may finally have to move out.
The 2,469-seat theater at 4038 N. Sheridan was built by Ascher Brothers in 1927 to accommodate stage shows and first-run movies. It was a breathtaking if expensive structure. Doric columns topped by gigantic Grecian urns soared above the street, and theatrical bas-relief figures highlighted the pediment. The facade, which recalled a Grecian temple, was a gem, marred only by the ground-floor retail shops. Inside, the architect, J.E.O. Pridmore, showed little restraint in his neoclassic design. He put in statues, chandeliers, and coffered ceilings, Corinthian columns and archways. The auditorium was topped with a canopied dome encircled by an intricate frieze of Roman charioteers. Lounges and smoking rooms catered to the elite clientele, and a bellowing four-manual Wurlitzer pipe organ shook the patrons in their seats.
But the Sheridan had to compete with Balaban and Katz’s Uptown Theatre just a mile north. This behemoth’s 4,320 seats made it the largest theater in the world when it was built, and the quality of its stage shows was hard to beat. The neighborhood surrounding it also offered more parking.
Unable to profit in such a shadow, Ascher Brothers eventually gave up the Sheridan to the William Fox chain. But Fox didn’t do any better and finally sold the theater to Balaban and Katz–who were plagued by the same problem. The public did little more than trickle in.
Balaban and Katz held on until 1951, when they accepted an offer from the Anshe Emet Synagogue, which refurbished the building for religious services. The refurbishers removed the ornate interior friezes and artwork and dismantled the outside facade, leaving a generic veneer. The Solomon Goldman Auditorium, as it was called, lasted a remarkable 15 years, and then the synagogue moved to new quarters. The building stood empty for a brief period before becoming the now infamous Palacio Teatro, where Spanish films were shown. “No fumar” signs were added to the Jewish symbols.
By 1987 the building was vacant again. Pyromaniacs torched the place repeatedly. One aspiring entrepreneur took over the lobby and tried to sell used hotel furniture, the remnants of which are now strewn about the building. The lobby’s floors and stairways are covered with the charred remains of mattresses and clothing, making it almost impossible to walk in some areas. Curtains from above the stage have been pulled down and burned, and about a third of the seats have disappeared. But at the top of the auditorium, where the dome used to be, there is still a gigantic likeness of a menorah.
Most of the small rooms seem like studio apartments, complete with food, beds, chairs, couches, tables, and clothing. The people who live on the fourth floor have a penthouse view, but their feces foul the air.
The Sheridan saga is not without blood and violence. Late last year the torso of an adult male was discovered in the alley behind the building. When police arrived, they found additional body parts scattered about the area. Panicky neighbors demanded action, and a community meeting was held with 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller in a vacant apartment just north of the theater.
The 20 or so people who showed up to voice their fears were dismayed when Shiller told them that the city itself had thwarted plans to renovate the building after the Palacio folded. In 1987 the Sheridan was set to become the new home of the Uptown library. It seemed like a perfect idea at the time; it would provide the neighborhood with a sorely needed library, preserve what was left of the Sheridan, and rid the community of one of its biggest eyesores. The deal seemed like a sure thing. The county had seized the property after the owner failed to pay the property taxes, and the city planned to acquire it at a scavenger sale through a prearranged noncash bid.
But then Cook County treasurer Ed Rosewell mysteriously decided to sell the building for the back taxes to Lou Wolf, who was on the cover of Chicago magazine two years ago above the headline “Chicago’s Worst Landlord.” Wolf did nothing with the property–he didn’t even pay the taxes–and the building fell back into the county’s hands. Through a special arrangement, the owner of a local hardware store attempts to keep it secure, though the ingenuity of the residents makes that difficult.
Now two organizations have submitted renovation proposals to the city’s Department of Economic Development, which is reviewing them. The for-profit ERTA, which already owns a handful of historically significant structures in the area, wants to put in 128 efficiency apartments for low- and medium-income elderly people, a commissary, administrative offices, retail shops along the street, and parking for 40 cars behind the building. A small movie theater might also be included. According to Bob Racky of ERTA, the Illinois Masonic Medical Center is being wooed as a possible partner. Estimates to complete the project are at $8 million.
The nonprofit Uptown Unified Arts Coalition (TUUAC) also has plans for the Sheridan. It would like to turn the building into an “education and cultural enhancement facility … available to local and regional community theater groups and other performance artists.” In the front rooms of the building, a performing-arts center would offer training and job counseling to community artists. The entire main floor of the auditorium and part of the balcony would be retained, creating a 1,500-seat theater. And a fifth floor would be built to accommodate the musicians, dancers, actors, photographers, and film and video artists who would use the facility. According to Franc Beeson of TUUAC, the building’s original architecture would be restored or replaced wherever possible. Funding for both renovation and operating costs would come from foundations, government agencies, and private philanthropists, as well as from the revenues generated by a gift shop, a restaurant, and the theater. TUUAC’s estimate is also at $8 million.
The city will have to acquire the theater from the county before either group can move ahead, but the building would undoubtedly be transferred to any developer at no cost. The city, which would have to pay around $350,000 to have the building torn down, seems eager to have someone start work as soon as possible.
The scavenger sale that would include the theater is coming up soon, yet there is no guarantee that the city will find either of the plans that have been submitted viable. And even if a plan is approved, the developer will have to scramble for financing so that he can start construction quickly. Both groups have had the structure inspected. The foundation appears to be sound, even though the basement flooded and froze last winter. Racky and Beeson agree that another winter might crack the building’s foundation beyond repair. And then it would have to be razed.
(July 21, 1943) – Announce New Policy for Chief – Chief’s Name Changed to Ken Theater and Also Inaugurates New Policy —– Francis' Schlax, manager of the Kenosha theater, announced today that a new policy had been adopted by the Chief theater for the future months — and in addition he also announced that the theater known as the Chief would undergo a change of name also. In the future it is to be known as the Ken theater. The change of policy according to Schlax is that the theater, starting this Friday and continuing each Friday, Saturday and Sunday thereafter, will show the main features which had been shown on the Kenosha or Gateway screens the first of the previous week. — Headline Attractions — As an example, Saroyan’s “The Human Comedy” starring Mickey Rooney together with “Yanks Ahoy” will open at the Ken this Friday and play through Sunday. These two films have been attracting large audiences at the Kenosha theater. In addition, next week’s showing will be “Lady of Burlesque” starring Barbara Stanwyck, which is the headliner attraction at the Kenosha starting this Friday. The new plan, according to Schlax, has been adopted to better accommodate the defense workers.
Eden Theatre architect Jack Train, FAIA, a founding principal of Valerio Dewalt Train Associates in Chicago, died on March 17, 2014 at 91. He was known for his technical and design excellence, along with his many contributions the architecture profession. He spent the first 20 years of his career with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he designed the award-winning US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Inland Steel Building in Chicago. In 1966, he was a principal of Metz, Train, Olson & Youngren; ten years later the firm became Metz, Train & Youngren. In 1982, he founded Jack Train Associates and in 1993 brought longtime colleague Mark Dewalt on board. A year later, the pair teamed with Joseph Valerio to become Valerio Dewalt Train Associates. Train was the firm’s president until his retirement in 1998, after which he was named principal emeritus. Jack Train was actively involved with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) on the local, state, and national levels, served as its Chicago Chapter president from 1962 to 1964, and was the first president of AIA Illinois (then known as the Illinois AIA Council) and later its chairman. He also chaired several task forces and committees at the national level. In 1974, Train received that year’s Edward C. Kemper Award for outstanding service to the profession. He also wrote “The Unsung Essentials of Architecture” on the business of architecture. Train was survived by his wife Virginia; children Jack, Barbara, and Pamela; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Norge Theater Opens Saturday – New West Side Theater Makes Formal Bow in Kenosha This Week —— The Norge theater, formerly the Strand on Twenty-Second avenue, will have its first program on Saturday afternoon. The theater, completely re-decorated and re-equipped at a cost of $10,000, makes its introduction as one of the prettiest neighborhood theaters in this section with every effort made to provide the most comfortable and most convenient entertainment available. Opening Saturday with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in “Behind the Front”, the theater will begin a policy of entertainment that will make it one of the most popular show houses of the city. Everything in the way of equipment is the most modern in the industry and nothing has been spared to make the Norge as attractive as possible. Opening the programs will be Miss Anna DeFazio, a brilliant young Kenosha musician at the golden-voiced Bartola organ. Miss DeFazio will be the regular organist at the theater. An orchestra offering popular music will also take part in the day’s program. A special program has been planned for Sunday beginning at 1 o’clock. The motion picture feature is Richard Dix’s famous “Lucky Devil”. In the evening there will be vaudeville. For the first time Kenosha will have an opportunity to hear and see the Salerno brbthers, famous entertainers in voice and accordion from WGN Chicago. The theater management will offer souvenirs to the ladies on the opening day. Fred N. Logue, the manager of the Norge, will be present to greet the many patrons of the theater. The policies of the theater as announced today by Manager Logue include performances each evening and matinees on Saturday and Sunday with vaudeville on Sundays. Popular admission prices will prevail. (March 31, 1927 – Kenosha Evening News)
NEW THEATRE OPENS – New Columbia Theatre on Elizabeth St Opens to Public Thursday – The new Columbia Theatre, located on Elizabeth street just west of Howland avenue, was opened to the public for the first time yesterday. No pains have been spared to make the new theatre the neatest and most attractive motion picture theatre in the city. Thoroughly ventilated, well heated and lighted, showing the best of motion pictures, it promises to become a popular place for lovers of good pictures. The theatre has a seating capacity of 500 and every seat in the house is a desirable one, giving a perfect view of the screen. (Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Nov 1913, Fri. Page 9)
FIRE IN A THEATRE – Fire Breaks Out In New Grand Theatre During First Performance Saturday Night —– The new Grand Theatre in one of the rooms in the Meyers block on Market Square which opened for business on Thursday evening had a baptism of fire on Saturday evening when flames broke out in the little compartment in the front of the theatre used for housing the picture machine and before they had been extinguished by the department, damage to the amount of nearly a thousand dollars resulted. Fortunately there was no panic connected with the fire. The first show of the evening was just well under way when the flames broke out and there were about 200 people in the theatre. Some man saw a small line of smoke coming out of the moving picture compartment and gave the alarm of fire and the people began to stampede toward the doors, but the men in charge of the theatre showed great presence of mind and quickly opened the exits at the rear of the building and the audience managed to get out of the building without any one being injured. In the meantime the flames were burning furiously in the little compartment where the moving picture machine was in operation. John McConnell Jr., one of the managers of the theatre, was in charge of the operation of the machine. He was throwing an advertising picture on the screen and at the same time was re-winding one of the long films which had been shown earlier in the evening. A portion of the film dropped down and struck a hot wire connected with the machine and it burned like timber. The machine was supposed to be a fire proof machine, but it was burned up in the flames which followed the burning of the film. McConnell proved himself a hero on the occasion as he hurriedly shouted to the ushers to get the crowd out of the building and then attempted to smother the fire with his bare hands. In his efforts he was terribly burned on the right hand. The flesh on this hand was burned to the bone and it will be weeks before he is able to use the hand again. The flames in the little compartment were so hot that the big plate glass windows in the front of the building were cracked and considerable damage was done to the decorations of the little theatre. The picture machine is considered a complete loss as are the two large films. The loss on the machine and films is placed at $500 and there was no insurance to cover this loss. The damage to the building will probably be four hundred dollars more but this loss is covered by insurance. As a result of the fire, Chief Isermann sent out men to look over the other theatres having moving picture machines in operation. The Columbia Theatre did not open on Sunday and the machine at the Bijou was operated with a member of the fire department with a chemical on guard. Today all of the theatres are lining the rooms in which the moving picture machines are operated with tin and asbestos and there will be no great danger from this sort of fire in the future. The managers of the Grand Theatre are planning to re-open the house just as soon as the damage done by the fire can be repaired with a new machine. {Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Dec 1908, Mon. Page 1}
New State Theatre owner plans to revive the downtown Kingsport venue (December 2019, WJHL)– Mark Hunt plans to bring new life to a historic landmark of downtown Kingsport. “It’s been an infatuation I guess, and a dream of mine since I was in my twenties to have a little theater,” Hunt said. Hunt is a Kingsport native and owner of auto repair business The Body Shop. But now he also owns a piece of Model City history. Hunt purchased the State Theatre on Broad Street in November from Kingsport real estate agency Urban Synergy. He plans to restore the venue into an entertainment spot for the whole community. “We’re going to try to get it back just the way it was,” said Hunt. “Just tweak it a little bit, outside of just [showing] movies. Try to get some live music or stand-up comedy. Mix it up a little bit.” The State Theatre opened in 1936 and drew in audiences with movies and plays throughout the decades. Its doors closed in the 1970s and the building fell into disrepair. There have been several owners and temporary businesses in the building since. Hunt says there’s plenty of work to be done to restore the State’s former glory. “The seats are gone, the stage is there. Ninety to ninety five percent of the electrical is finished. So the big part is over.” Hunt’s efforts have the City of Kingsport’s support. “Downtown buildings and especially theatres from back in the day, those are harder venues [to revive] because of your capacity and your seating,” said Jason Hudson, Kingsport’s economic development director. “It takes passion. And having a local business owner who has that passion to bring it downtown is the best chance of success for the theater.“ Hunt said the State Theatre will likely reopen in 2021, but a late 2020 opening is also possible. “We’re going to try to shake Kingsport up a little bit here in the next couple of years,” said Hunt.
The CASWELL Theatre building was built in the late 1800s and originally operated as a store. The theatre opened in 1938 and was owned by the North Carolina Amusement Company. The first movie to play was ‘Stablemates’, starring Mickey Rooney. The price of admission was $.10 for children and $.20 for adults. The theatre closed its doors in 1957.
The Uptown Theatre opened on this date ninety-five years ago.
(January 13, 1920)– Union Dye Works Regain Lease on Blue Mill Theatre Building and Start $45000 Addition – LARGE ADDITION FOR UNION DYE – Cleaning and Dyeing Co to Erect Big Building Adjoining Their Present Quarters to Make Room for Their Growing Business ……… Announcement was made this morning by Louis and Morris Plous, the proprietors of the Union Dye Works, that they had secured from the Collins Amusement Company the lease for the building formerly known as the Blue Mill Theatre and that the building would be remodeled immediately as a large addition to the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Two stories will be added to the present structure and this with the purchase of new equipment for the building will cost in the neighborhood of $45,000. Work was started this morning in dismantling the Blue Mill Theatre to make way for the new addition. The entire interior of the theatre was torn out today and as soon as the work advances far enough the front will be torn out to be replaced by one similar to the front of the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Work will be rushed on the addition by Contractor Otto Windorf in an attempt to complete the building by the first of March to have it in readiness for the spring business of the company. Louis Plous, one of the owners of the Union Dye Company in explaining the plans for the- new addition, declared that the business of the company had long outgrown its present quarters and that the company had long sought to secure the present site for their new building. The mail order business of the company has increased by leaps and bounds and the new addition will be turned over largely for the handling of this business. There will also be quartered in the new building a complete dyeing department which will leave more room in the present building of the company for its cleaning establishment. Contracts have also been let by the company for a large amount of new machinery which will make the plant one of the most complete cleaning and dyeing institutions of the kind in Wisconsin. The addition will cause the addition of a large number of employees to the pay-roll of the company, bringing the total above seventy-five. The transaction closed this morning marks the passing of the Blue Mill Theatre, one of Kenosha’s best known film houses. The building was built by the Plous Brothers several years ago and has been leased and managed for several years by the Collins Amusement Company in connection with the management of the Burke Theatre. During this time it has showed many of the film successes of the country and has been one of the most popular playhouses of the city. (Kenosha Evening News)
The Village Board, at its August 11th Village Board meeting at 8:00 p.m. will consider the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation to deny a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of the Libertyville theater building. The meeting will be held virtually due to the Restore Illinois Phase 4 restrictions. Members of the public who wish to comment may do so prior to the meeting by sending an e-mail to or dropping off a written comment to the Village Hall at 118 W. Cook Avenue. The meeting agenda may be found here: www.libertyville.com/agendacenter . The virtual meeting link is located at the top of the agenda. Members of the public may also comment during the meeting by using the chat function or sending an e-mail to .
Daily Herald, Feb. 27, 2015: Community cheers refurbished Antioch Theatre’s encore
Converted from a live performance venue in 1924, the Antioch Theatre never was known for the ornate architecture seen in some other suburban movie palaces of the era. But for 90 years, it has been a mainstay of downtown Antioch, a place where generations of residents in the small town were drawn for entertainment and camaraderie.
Over time, the theater lost its luster. By last summer, attendance was down, the building was in extensive disrepair and an auction in lieu of foreclosure was a possibility.
Downtown business owner Tim Downey bought the building with the hope of a rekindling the attraction.
The result is a complete $750,000 renovation and upgrade to digital equipment and the conversion of an adjoining retail space into a second, more intimate theater.
The encore of the Antioch Theatre began Friday afternoon and the community responded.
For kids, the attraction in the smaller space was “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water.”
The audience also filled 160 floor seats and 56 balcony seats in the main theater to see “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”
“This is great,” said Mike Malone of Antioch. “We’re really excited to see the theater reopen up. It’s great to be back”
“Your downtown is still the social center, it’s the heartbeat of most communities,” said Mayor Larry Hanson, who grew up in Antioch.
And once again, the Antioch Theatre is contributing to that sentiment.
The last picture show (Joyce Whitis, Mar. 25, 2007)
“Five or six years ago they had a big shin dig up in Archer City when several hundred movie buffs motored into town. Scattered among the guests were movie stars, Jeff Bridges and Cloris Leachman, who played in The last Picture Show, a movie that first opened in 1972. The occasion for this celebration and a trip down memory lane, was the first showing of that movie in the town in which it was depicted nearly 40 years ago. The movie wasn’t popular in town in ‘72. This time would be different. Folks had matured so they said.
You remember that Archer City’s Pulitzer Prize winning author, Larry McMurtry, wrote that book about growing up in a small Texas town. Everyone assumed that the Show was about Archer City where McMurtry lived and went to high school. Therefore practically everybody there was more than shocked when they read in that book that the high school basketball coach’s wife had an affair with one of the students. That was not a Texas thing to do and it ruffled more than a few feathers. And then there was that scene where the lovely Cybil Shepherd and her friends went skinny dipping in a pool in Wichita Falls.
My Lord! What next?
That was the way we thought 40 years ago, and my dear, times have changed. Today it seems that an awful lot of teenagers are proud to parade across a computer screen and unblushingly reveal activities that would have sent their mothers underground for life. Not only do these children get vocal but their language would melt industrial strength paint right off the farm machinery.
Everybody at that party in Archer City seemed more than happy to lay down a couple of hundred to see the 37-year-old movie, The Last Picture Show. This time it was almost in the original movie theater. Actually the picture show which was the subject of the book and resulting flick, burned sometime in the mid-sixties. This showing of the film that has become a classic was next door to the old Royal Theater. The new building, built behind an old storefront, is now a performing arts theater.
I can’t help but wonder what arts will be performing in Archer City. Maybe book reviews. The town has close to half a million hard copies. McMurtry himself owns three warehouses packed to the rafters and as if that wasn’t enough, somebody put in his own bookstore.
I have a strong attachment for that little town with the beautiful old courthouse and the streets, mostly deserted, except for tourists with armloads of books, moving from book warehouse to book warehouse. My memory zips back to a cool fall evening in 1945. Football is in the air, Texas High School Football, that is. Chillicothe’s Eagles are about to take on Archer’s Wildcats and our pep squad is marching to its own drum down Main Street. There isn’t much traffic, there never is, and when a car comes up behind us, we just saunter to one side of the pavement and march on.
When our line passed the Royal Theater I remember shouting to my best friend, “The Strand is bigger than that.” I was referring to The Strand Theater in Chillicothe where everybody that I knew saw every show that came to town. The “hubba hubba” crowd (that was before cool, and bad and in the ‘40s meant really hot stuff) sat on the back row and we never let the younger kids infringe on those seats. The back row, though not stated publicly, was reserved for high school seniors to sit and hold hands, sigh and maybe steel a kiss when the usher wasn’t looking.
Like the story line in The Last Picture Show, my hometown was also centered around the movie theater. That’s where you met your friends when you were in grade school; where your beau took you on your first date; where you watched that other world unfold on a flat piece of canvas and its power could transport you to some beautiful, romantic place far away where only the handsome and brave lived.
Movies were an education for my generation, not just entertainment. Gone With the Wind set my heart pounding and ignited a fire inside and a love for my Southern heritage that has never been extinguished. I’ve seen that movie probably 50 times and every time I cry with Scarlet at the end. Stagecoach brought us John Wayne. Judy Garland took us by the hand and led us through the Technicolor land of dreams and we closed our eyes and clicked our heels and knew that we had been transported to a wonderland. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers sang their way into our hearts because the good guy always won. In our world that was the way it was.
On trips “back home” I always stop in Archer City to buy a book or take yet one more picture of what remains of the old Royal Theater. In Chilli the Strand is long gone, cleared off by a giant yellow machine with a tremendous front-end loader that just cranked up and pushed the source of all our dreams into dust. I still have a piece of it though. Once, after the building had stood vacant for a long time, staring out at the street like an old woman who forgot where she was, I went inside and sat down in all the dirt that had collected on the seats in the back row, I sat there all by myself for quiet awhile and thought about those wonderful years and all the friends I knew and with whom I shared moments in time. Many of those friends are buried in the little cemetery outside of town, others I lost track of and have no idea of what roads they took in life. After awhile I got up and ripped a piece of art deco molding from the wall and walked with it back to my car.
That red and white trim is nailed to the wall in my utility room and it gives me pleasure to stare at it and remember how it was in the 1940s at the last picture show in town. I could write my own book about that."
© Gannett Co., Inc. 2020. All rights reserved. Stephenville Empire-Tribune ~ 702 E. South Loop, Stephenville, TX 76401
The new marquee has been installed, a recreation of the original, and awaits power. Poblocki Sign Company spokesman Blair Benes said “Members of our team spent time in the city archives to find as many old black and white photos of the original theater as possible. That, in conjunction with Kahler Slater, the architect, and MacRostie Historic Advisors we were able to pool our resources and determine as accurately as possible things like color, bulb style and spacing, the pattern of the stain glass element” but with LED technology and digital displays. Once power is connected, a “flipping of the switch” event is planned to as a formal celebration of the new 13-foot-tall 32-foot-wide marquee and 52-foot-tall 11-foot-wide 1,200-bulb blade sign.
Benes credited dozens of Poblocki workers involved in the three-month fabrication and roughly three weeks of on-site prep work. “The golden crown was hand-spray applied painted to achieve the gradient you see at the top. Due to all of the detailed scroll and channel work these displays spent more time in prep and taping work than actually in the paint booths.”