It opened October 17, 1925 and cost $90,000 to build. It originally seated about 400, and had a Barton organ. It contained “unusual light fixtures” and was “uniquely plastered”.
It’s about to reopen for the season. Also it did not open until August 4, 1961. It was built by independent exhibitors Basil Charuhas, Bill Galligan, and Milt Levy. It featured a 40-foot attraction sign with over 3000 lamps simulating a waterfall. It was touted as featuring the newest transistorized sound and having aligned viewing ramps to eliminate hard to see corners.
In contrast to the bustling six corners of the 1950s, as seen in this previously-posted picture, It was a much different place in the 1920s when the theater rose. Here are four pictures from the Chicago Daily News, taken in 1922. 1234 Notice that in photos 1, 2, and 3, the Portage Park Theatre’s smokestack is visible. The facade would probably be partly visible if the photos were higher resolution. Also notice that the corner store shown in these pictures remains there; here is how it looks now, for reference.
It looks to me like it was originally known as the Harding. Despite the fact that there was another Harding on Milwaukee. It apparently was not named Chopin until about 1940.
Notice that the marquee is in poor repair, with open access ports on the bottom, no sign bulbs on the bottom, many missing on the sides, and the neon missing on the sides. Also, the “Tomahawk” boards are cheap plastic.
Although announced as a $500,000 project, the Hollywood theater looked much cheaper, with a simple front and an Italian garden atmospheric interior. Owners were Hill & Haverkamp. The architects were K(arl).M. Vitzthum and John J. Burns. In addition to the nearby Fullerton State Bank building at Southport avenue, they built what is now the Elco theater in Indiana, 50+ banks, the old Depaul 64 E. Lake campus, a number of skyscrapers, the landmark One North Lasalle building, the Sheboygan County Courthouse, and the Old Republic building, as well as contributing to Cook County Hospital, Great Lakes Naval Training Center and Comiskey. The name was shortened to Holly by 1946, it disappeared from listings after July, 1955, and it is now the site of a Walgreens parking lot.
It looks like it was a gut job to create the 4 cinemas, but the lobby is still mostly intact from the 1930s. All the cinemas have between 230 and 250 seats. Also, look at the north-facing side of the vertical sign- the ‘i’ is upside-down. But it’s a decent place to see a movie. The sound isn’t fantastic, but the picture is clear and bright, and it has comfortable rocker seats, even if the floor slants at a funny angle.
I saw a rendering of this at the Chicago Historical Society the other day with a Frank S. Baker identified as the architect. I don’t know what to make of that, since it seems so widely identified as Pridmore and it looks like one of his, too. Baker soesn’t appear to have been responisble for any particularly notable buildings.
The architects were named van guNten.
It opened October 17, 1925 and cost $90,000 to build. It originally seated about 400, and had a Barton organ. It contained “unusual light fixtures” and was “uniquely plastered”.
It’s about to reopen for the season. Also it did not open until August 4, 1961. It was built by independent exhibitors Basil Charuhas, Bill Galligan, and Milt Levy. It featured a 40-foot attraction sign with over 3000 lamps simulating a waterfall. It was touted as featuring the newest transistorized sound and having aligned viewing ramps to eliminate hard to see corners.
I have an artist’s rendering of what it looked like when it was remodeled as the Mode
In contrast to the bustling six corners of the 1950s, as seen in this previously-posted picture, It was a much different place in the 1920s when the theater rose. Here are four pictures from the Chicago Daily News, taken in 1922. 1 2 3 4 Notice that in photos 1, 2, and 3, the Portage Park Theatre’s smokestack is visible. The facade would probably be partly visible if the photos were higher resolution. Also notice that the corner store shown in these pictures remains there; here is how it looks now, for reference.
Here is a blurry 1922 picture of the Milford.
It was remodeled by Roy B. Blass in the 1940s
Remodeling was done by Roy B. Blass in the 1940s.
THe RKO Grand was remodeled in the 1940s by Roy B. Blass
It was remodeled by Roy B. Blass in 1942
The remodelings in 1957 were by reknowned architect Bertrand Goldberg.
A photographic record at the Chicago Historical Society says the Beverly was designed by Holabird & Root
Remodeling was by Roy B. Blass
Remodeling was done by Roy B. Blass in 1936
It looks to me like it was originally known as the Harding. Despite the fact that there was another Harding on Milwaukee. It apparently was not named Chopin until about 1940.
Here are some recent views of the Gateway.
Here are some recent photos of the first Terminal/Mode.
Here is a photoset depicting the last months and demolition of the Mode'
Also This link is probably more useful.
Notice that the marquee is in poor repair, with open access ports on the bottom, no sign bulbs on the bottom, many missing on the sides, and the neon missing on the sides. Also, the “Tomahawk” boards are cheap plastic.
Although announced as a $500,000 project, the Hollywood theater looked much cheaper, with a simple front and an Italian garden atmospheric interior. Owners were Hill & Haverkamp. The architects were K(arl).M. Vitzthum and John J. Burns. In addition to the nearby Fullerton State Bank building at Southport avenue, they built what is now the Elco theater in Indiana, 50+ banks, the old Depaul 64 E. Lake campus, a number of skyscrapers, the landmark One North Lasalle building, the Sheboygan County Courthouse, and the Old Republic building, as well as contributing to Cook County Hospital, Great Lakes Naval Training Center and Comiskey. The name was shortened to Holly by 1946, it disappeared from listings after July, 1955, and it is now the site of a Walgreens parking lot.
The Chicago Historic Resources Survey also lists Baker as the architect.
The theater really is remarkably intact aside from the paint scheme and the seating. It’s worth checking out.
See here for an update on Block 37.
It looks like it was a gut job to create the 4 cinemas, but the lobby is still mostly intact from the 1930s. All the cinemas have between 230 and 250 seats. Also, look at the north-facing side of the vertical sign- the ‘i’ is upside-down. But it’s a decent place to see a movie. The sound isn’t fantastic, but the picture is clear and bright, and it has comfortable rocker seats, even if the floor slants at a funny angle.
I saw a rendering of this at the Chicago Historical Society the other day with a Frank S. Baker identified as the architect. I don’t know what to make of that, since it seems so widely identified as Pridmore and it looks like one of his, too. Baker soesn’t appear to have been responisble for any particularly notable buildings.