Varsity Theater

Man, this place was the greatest. Hands down, the best theater in the area back in the 70's & 80's.

I think gutted is probably too strong of a word. People who worked in the building during the 90's said the balcony...and everything else above the first floor was still there. In fact, your receipt from Musicland (long-time tenant) had "Varsity Theater" printed on it. Further evidence lies in the fact that all the fire doors above the first floor are still visible...although they took down the escapes after a small fire (maybe ten years back). It was never a pharmacy...always multiple tenants. I'm not sure...but, you may be giving it a few too many seats.

Most surprising is the fact there was consideration given to renovating it as a performing arts center four or five years ago, although it proved to be cost-prohibitive. Maybe it will come out of hibernation some day. Here's an article:

http://www.evanstonroundtable.com/rt2001/Roundtable060601/

I wonder who owns the building, and what they think of all this...

See page 13 of this PDF file:

http://www.cityofevanston.org/departments/communitydevelopment/zoning/pdf/comp_plan.pdf

The Varsity Theater opened December, 1926. Seating is listed at 2,500. The first movies that played there was a comedy called "The Collegians" and a western called "Man of the Forest".

Clyde Elliott: Elliott secured control of the town's two largest movie theaters, the New Evanston (1560 Sherman, built 1911) and the Hoyburn (615 Davis, built 1914), and then formed the University Theater Company to finance construction of the Varsity. With the opening of the Varsity, Elliott discontinued the showing of motion pictures at the New Evanston, which thereafter featured only vaudeville and stock productions.

The link that Life's too short posted on Dec. 27, is either outdated or typed incorrectly.

Yeah...it's gone. The internet doesn't stay the same for very long. It was a passing reference contained in a discussion of the Evanston Theater. It added figures to what I described. The project was estimated at $10-11 million, if memory serves. Something like $7 million was accessible. This large funding gap led them to look at other options. I wonder how much of that cost would have been associated with adding a real stage to the place. 2500 seats, opened in 1926...no working stage. I can't figure that one out.

I would also be curious to know how many current Evanston residents know what that building really is.

Seems like a good sign that the owner was willing to at least look into the matter of an arts center.

Well, count me as someone who had no idea what that building really was! The tall building in the left of the photo used to be a Marshall Field's. The current tenants in the Varsity space are the GAP and recently, a furniture store. You can see paper signs in the photo of the furniture store space announcing that an OSCO Drug was going to go in there, but obviously that didn't pan out.

Pretty amazing, isn't it? I'll bet most people who walk by those stores don't realize that there is a great theater above them. I don't hold out too much hope. But, if the Oriental (in Chicago) can come back to life after years as a retail store, so can the Varsity.

Before home videos, there was a new old-movie double-feature at The Varsity every two or three nights. I recall one night watching The Black Stallion, when a woman's screams panicked the entire theater. People were checking out in the alley, the bathrooms, everywhere - but we couldn't find her.

It turns out she was downstairs under the stage. Her long hair got caught in a huge ventilation fan, which was winding her in. Suddenly, a guy popped up from under the stage and yelled, "Someone give me a knife!" It was pandemonium, as people ran for the doors - and the rest of us waited to see if she was okay, secretly hoping to see the rest of the movie.

See mention of the Varsity about 1/2 way down:



Central St. Performing Arts Center -- Feasible?
By Beth Demes

Evanston Round Table
Volume IV Number 12
June 6, 2001

Performing arts organizations in Evanston are keeping their fingers crossed - twice.

First, that the City Council approves a grant to study converting the old Central Street movie theaters into a performing arts center. And, second, that the study proves the dream feasible.



City Council is expected to consider the $56,100 grant, requested by Light Opera Works and Dance Center Evanston, the two main tenants of the proposed performance venue, at its June 11 meeting. The Economic Development Committee approved the grant at its May 23 meeting after much discussion.

If City Council approves the grant, David Woodhouse Architects, a design firm that specializes in cultural and recreational centers, will assess the feasibility and cost of converting the former Evanston Theater, 1702 Central Street, for use by the two proposed tenants. They will also look at how the space might accommodate other Evanston performing arts groups, such as the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, Piven Theatre, Next Theatre and Organic Theater. "It's in our best interest to sublease as much of the space as possible [to other performing arts groups]," said Bridget McDonough, general manager of Light Opera Works. The study might determine, she added, that there could be a third theater in the space, potentially allowing a third main tenant for the building.

Gordon Magill, trustee for the owners of the building, said the theater was built in the 1920s as a movie house and was used at one point for live performances. Before being cut into smaller movie theaters, the property had two auditoriums in two separate buildings. The larger auditorium, the original movie house called the "west theater," now broken into four theaters, is actually located at 1716 Central St. The smaller "east theater," a former gym converted to a movie theater in the early 1970s, has the 1702 Central St. address.

Light Opera Works is interested in the west theater, which holds 1,200 to 1,500 seats. Dance Center Evanston is looking at the 600-seat east theater for studio and flexible performance space. "I believe in the project, and I believe in the people who are committed to make it happen," Mr. Magill told Economic Development Committee members at the May meeting.

He said he would hold off marketing the building, vacant since Loews Theaters closed in late February, to other tenants as long as there is steady progress on the project and "light at the end of the tunnel."

"[Converting] the Central Street theaters from a movie house to a working performing arts center...would ensure that two of our City's leading cultural institutions would be with us for a long time to come," Carol Daskais Navin, a Dance Center Evanston Board member, told the Committee.

Light Opera Works has offered musical theater in Evanston for the past 20 years and produces four shows a year, three in Northwestern University's Cahn Auditorium and one in the YMCA Child Care Center Auditorium. The non-profit arts organization draws about 29,000 patrons a year and has 2,700 subscribers. Dance Center Evanston, 610 Davis St., opened in 1994 as a dance school for students ages three and older. The school, under owner and director Bˆ©a Rashid, has grown from 70 to 500 students who take classes in ballet, modern dance, jazz and tap. The non-profit Evanston Dance Ensemble is a civic dance company that draws from the school.

Both performing arts groups had already outgrown their present quarters and were looking for larger spaces when the Central Street theaters became vacant. But retrofitting the old movie theaters for major live productions will not be easy. The greatest challenge, said Ms. McDonough, may be adapting the west theater for Light Opera Works' needs, which include an orchestra pit large enough for 35 pieces, a fly loft and wing space.

Several Economic Development Committee members were concerned about the cost of the conversion and ongoing operation and who would foot the bill.

Ms. McDonough pointed out that her organization and Ms. Rashid's would be signing leases for the space and have already discussed possible rents with Mr. Magill. Both groups, she added, would rely first on their donor bases to raise money for the rehab, before approaching the larger community. She would not say what their fundraising limit might be, or whether the City may be needed to fill a gap, preferring to wait for the results of the study first. The City has also been non-committal about subsidizing such a project. It has not been willing to consider sizable funding in the past for performing arts centers.

Two years ago, as part of the plan for the downtown Church Street Plaza development, the architect hired by developer Arthur Hill estimated that the construction cost for a second-level performing arts center above a new Levy Senior Center would be about $13 million. As an alternative, the City looked into rehabbing the former Varsity Theater on Sherman Avenue; that also proved to be expensive at $10 million. With estimates of private fund-raising capacity limited to $4 million and the City's inability to fill the funding gap, that proposed performing arts center fell apart.

An earlier attempt in the late 1980s for an Evanston performing arts center to house the Northlight Theatre also failed because of cost and funding difficulties.

In a separate interview, Ms. McDonough said she thought the Central Street proposal would be different. Compared to the Varsity Theater, the Central Street theaters are in better condition and should not be as expensive to retrofit. She also said that instead of creating a new non-profit to raise the funds and operate the building, as the Church Street Plaza plan contemplated, two existing, established arts organizations would take the lead, making the fundraising easier.

Scheduling multiple groups for the space, always a challenge in a single performing arts venue, might also be easier because of the inherent priority of the organizations leasing the space.

Some City officials have pointed out that Evanston already has a performing arts center - the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St.

Ms. McDonough and others in the arts community say the Noyes Center is very supportive and valuable because it offers space to arts organizations at reduced rent, but it has limitations.

Joyce Piven, artistic director of the Piven Theatre Workshop, told the RoundTable they juggle holding classes and performing shows in their space at the Noyes Center.

"If we are able to put out one or two [of our four shows per season] in another venue, it would give us room to breathe," explained Ms. Piven. That is why the Central Street proposal is so appealing. Ideally, she said, they would be looking for a house with 200 to 250 seats.

"We seem to have a burgeoning of very solid performance groups in Evanston that have already received city-wide recognition, either through the [Joseph Jefferson Awards] committee, or through Chicago newspapers, or through the gathering audiences that we have here," Ms. Piven continued. "We feel that a performance center of some kind would really be a stunning thing for the North Shore. It's something that is waiting to happen."

It is a grand old palace and it seems like there are a few folks who have visited the Varsity. I recently purchased the building and would love to hear back some of you to get some additional information and or backround that you may have.

Are you an Evanston local? What was the interior like?

Thanks,

Steven

Not an Evanston resident these days. But that's where I grew up. I remember seeing movies at the Varsity while it was still open, and I remember when they tore the marquee off and turned into stores. It was a great house. I clearly recall looking at the stars on the ceiling while watching "the Neverending Story" and "2001". That was the thing that made it the coolest theatre in Evanston. The Coronet and Evanston Theatres were just big rooms. The Varsity was kind of a magical thing for a little kid, even in the 80's when I am sure it had seen better days. The Theatre Historical Society in Elmhurst has all kinds of pictures of it, through the stages of it's life. I have been told by more than one person that the interior is completely intact above the first floor, balcony, seats and all. Perhaps you can shed some light on that. Of course, it would be great to see it return to theatrical use some day. But I also realize that business is business. I wish you success in your venture, and hope that you will keep the theatre's past in mind if any redevelopment is on the horizon. Even condos can use a nice exterior.

You seem to have a great interest in Theaters...what's your attraction to them?

With regards to the interior, it is not intact! There are no seats, no stars and all the original features are gone for the most part. Correction, all the original features are gone except for some molding and fixtures in some of the bathrooms and about 1/2 of the molding/plaster facade in the front of the theater. It is pretty raw at this point.

Thanks for the Theater Historical Society in Elmhurst.

Whats the difference between Theater Historical Society in Elmhurst and this site?

Several generations of my family made their living running an architecture firm, and in the process they created some of the nation's best know theatres. While my grandfather closed the firm in the late 60's, and I work in an entirely different business, I have been surronded by these places since I was a little kid in one way or another. You might say that I had no choice in the matter!

The people in Elmhurst have been around for a long time, at least since the 70's. They have a massive archive of photos, news clippings, records and artifacts (a photo of Eddie Murphy signing autographs at the Varsity for instance). This web site I know less about. I think it's been up for about five years, and it serves as multi-purpose forum for preservationists.

I grew up in Evanston, and my father would change the marquees every Thursday night on all 3 of the Balaban & Katz (later ABC Great States) movie theaters: The Varsity, Valencia, and Coronet. It became my job in my junior year of high school ('71 - '72), and I got to know the various behind-the-screen and under-the-stage spaces.

Earlier years in childhood, my siblings and I had the enviable benefit of not only getting in free, we bypassed the long lines of premiers that circled the block and entered the moment that we arrived. When Balaban & Katz were the owners, I remember going to the annual Christmas party at the Palmer House for the children of employees.

One blizzarding Thursday night while changing the Varsity's marquee, a few Evanston Police cars had lined up on Church St. along Marshall Field's, out of sight, waiting to pounce when southbound cars on Sherman Ave., thinking that no one was around, would run the red light at Church Street. This was viewed by me atop a 15' ladder.

I still have many of the pages that I used to compare the letters in movie titles from this week to next week. The letters were metal and had to be carried up the ladder, so one did this in order to re-use as many letters as possible (and haul as few as possible from their storage location).

I remember the Varsity as having a sort of fairy-tale-like castle theme, including the aforementioned starry sky. I believe the Valencia had been a Vaudeville theater. I'll try to view anything that the Theater Historical Society in Elmhurst has if they have a website, and try to stimulate more memories.

great story...any chance you still live in the area. The upstairs in not in the best shape. The old ceiling is not present and about 50% of the plaster "fairy tale castle walls" are present.

The marquee on the Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC (which is still a movie theatre) looks very similar to the one which once adorned this place. Could the two theatres (or at least the marquees) have been designed by the same person?

Is there a photo of the marquee on this site as I just read your above post and the one on the Varsity/Chapel Hill site, too?

I am pretty sure the same firm made a lot of those second generation theatre marquees. They all looked so similar. White Way maybe? I don't really know.

SR: what is there in place of the old ceiling?

I am not sure who made the original sign. The look is similar to the Chapel Hill sign (on paper - the original plans). I am still looking for pictures.

The old ceiling is now just plaster. I am not sure if the old ceiling had a drappery ceiling or another ceiling that has since been taken down. Someone indicated that it used to have "stars" on the ceiling. At this point there is not any indication that they were mounted in the ceiling.

I believe that in the 1980s (towards the end), the Varsity was doing revivals and classic films a la the Parkway in Chicago.

If that's true, then it may have been the VCR and not the multi-plex that did in the Varsity and the Parkway.

You are correct. It finished it's last incarnation as a theatre showing art films, just like the Parkway.

Regarding SR's observation of the ceiling, I may have misled you with comments about stars. They weren't star shapes mounted on the ceiling really. The ceiling of the Varsity was a plain plaster dome. The "stars" were small light sockets in the ceiling that were set to blink on and off. I am guessing it is the same ceiling that is there now judging by other retail conversions I have seen.

In a way I have never understood conversions like this because I have to think that all that open space above the stores would increase utility costs significantly. And what revenue-generating purpose does it serve? I suppose you can store merchandise up there. There are plenty of examples of this across the country. But as a business man I don't quite see to the other side of it.

In the October edition of Chicago Mag.on page 117 their is a very nice picture of the Varsity dateing from 1953 it is part of an artical entitled "Vital Signs" the varsity along with the Orential, Woods, i think the Esquire,and the Roosevelt and the Harris.

Wasn't this place a Plitt Theatre?

Plitt operated it in the late '70s. When I left Evanston in the summer of 1980 Plitt had recently stopped showing movies there and somebody was booking concerts into it.

Russell Phillips Photos:

Varsity Auditorium
Varsity Lobby
Varsity Upper Lobby

The layout here looks a lot like Pridmore's designs at the Evanston/Stadium and Nortown, except T-shaped instead of L

But just how much of what is photo'ed in Russell Phillips remains, espeially now that it's a GAP store?

I watched them do the retail conversion back in the day. They blew out the wall between the lobby and auditorium main floor. Then they leveled out the main floor grade and built the retail stalls within the walls of the auditorium. Based on stories I have heard from people working in the stores, the comments of the building owner above, and the fact that the City of Evanston was considering renovation of the building as an arts center a few years ago, I think it is safe to say that a large portion of the theatre still exists. If the right project came along it could serve some sort of entertainment purpose again.

However, unless I miss my guess, the owner is thinking about building condos on the site and is monitoring this web site to try and get an idea of what sort of community resistance might rise up against such a project.

Take a look at this modern-day photo of the Garfield Theatre in Milwaukee Paul:

http://www2.jsonline.com/multimedia/graphic.asp?graphic=http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/owlive/img/apr06/ceiling_041106_big.jpg

This is similar to what was executed at Evanston's Varsity. You can walk upstairs above the offices that were fitted into the walls of the Garfield's orchestra and look down on the false ceiling from the balcony. Light fixtures removed, a few walls blown out. But the Garfield still exists and could be returned to theatrical use.

Hopefully someone will come up with a viable plan to return the Varsity to the people of Evanston. It would be a shame if this, the best theatre ever built in the city, was carved up into condos. Come to think of it, I'm not sure how viable condos would be in Evanston at this point. There is so much existing capacity. It would be interesting to see some stats on occupancy rates, etc.

Merry Christmas to all!

To SR and others -
I just returned from Portland Oregon, where over the last 15 years they've seen about 12-15 of these old theater's reclaimed for use as brew-pub/restaurants, where you can eat while you watch a film on the big screen. It's a terrific use of the space, an asset to the community, and obviously they're doing well as businesses. They typically take out all the old seats and replace them with scattered sofas and coffee tables, or they remove every other row of the theater seating and put in long tables, so that eating is quite comfortable. They serve good but simple fare, along the lines of high-end pizza or burgers, along with wine and beer (often micro-brewed, though not on-site). At non-peak times they use the space for classics, art film series, midnight shows, birthday parties, kids movies and so on.

Any interest is seeing this sort of development? If so, contact me.

I think the dates in the description here are a little off. I believe the Varsity closed in 1985 or 1986. I have some photos of the building when the conversion to retail space was underway. You can see a couple of them in Set #12, at this URL:
http://www.mekong.net/random/theatres.htm

Damn, I love that graffiti. :-)

And no, I am *not* the one who wrote it... but ironically, that *is* where I saw "Citizen Kane," and "The Magnificent Ambersons." The Varsity was marvelous. Absolutely magical.

Anyway, on the back of my original print, I had written "12/86," and I'm fairly certain that is accurate.

As Life's Too Short mentioned, the Varsity and the Parkway were both showing art films in the early 80s. I was thinking that one of the chains bought out the Varsity in about '84, though, and then showed first-run movies. I seem to remember seeing "Conan the Destroyer" there.

Anybody out there from the North Side want to weigh in?

I've still got a couple schedules from both the Parkway and the Varsity. They used to have 'em tucked in the Reader about once a month. If anyone is interested, I'll see if I can photograph or scan them.

Hello Cam:
I would love to see anything that you have on the Varsity. I was a relief manager for Plitt Theatres and would give the regular manager at the Varsity his night off. I also worked at the Nortown and Gateway Theatres in Chicago. I remember that many "B" movies were shown at the Varsity. The busiest time that I recall was when we showed the George Burns movie, "Going In Style". I am curious if it is possible to see what is left of the original inside of the building. As a side note, it had a somewhat interesting design to the manager's office. There were actually two of them, a very small one on the main floor that contained the safe and a fairly large office on the second floor.

Famed "Schmeling-Louis" fight film shown at Varsity---

NEWS ITEM:

Chicago Daily News, Friday, June 26, 1936, p. 36, c. 1---

FIGHT FILMS OPEN AT B-K THEATERS

The Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight pictures, complete from beginning to end have been booked in as extra screen attractions at eight Balaban & Katz theaters starting today. In the loop the pictures will be shown at the Roosevelt and Apollo theaters; west side Marbro; south side, Tivoli and Southtown; north side, Granada, Varsity and Uptown. The pictures showing the knockdown in slow motion, also start at the Regal theater on the south side on Sunday

Here is another example of a treatment similar to that employed at Evanston's Varsity Theatre when it was converted to retail:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/364937183/in/set-72057594058986176/

Hidden behind Gap store:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/secretagentmartens/sets/72157594487763344/

Great pic.
Whare was the gap store i mean was the theatre walled off and the store buld on the front. With the theatre in the back?

Great photo set. That is about what I figured it looked like. The Varsity is sleeping silently above the first floor stores, waiting for the next chapter.

Here is an article from the Evanston Round Table, published last September:

http://www.evanstonroundtable.com/rt2006/rt_090606/news.html

6 September 2006 Vol. IX Number 17

TIF Revenues Top Budget Forecast
By Bill Smith

Tax revenue this year from the Downtown II (Research Park) tax-increment financing (TIF) district centered on Maple Avenue north of Church Street will top the City's budget forecast by nearly a million dollars.

The district, which includes the Century Theater complex, the Optima Views and Optima Horizons condo high-rises and the Hilton Garden Inn, is now assessed at $133.7 million, compared to $1.8 million when the district was created two decades ago.

The Cook County Clerk's office last week reported that incremental tax revenue to the City from this TIF district this year will total $10.1 million, a 29-percent increase from last year and 10 percent more than the City had forecast.

The City has used revenue from this TIF to build the new Levy Senior Center on Dodge Avenue, replacing the old senior center located in the district, and to build the new Maple Avenue parking garage.

The Downtown II TIF is scheduled to expire in 2008. After that most of the increased revenue will start going to Evanston's school districts.

The County Clerk's figures show that the Washington National TIF, formed 12 years ago, topped the City's revenue forecast by nearly 23 percent.

That district includes the area bounded by Church Street, Chicago Avenue, Davis Street and Benson Avenue, plus the former Marshall Field's and Varsity Theater buildings and Fountain Square.

The Washington National TIF, created in 1994, was named for the now-defunct insurance company whose headquarters building once occupied the corner of Church Strret and Chicago Avenue. It now is home to the Park Evanston rental apartment high-rise and the Whole Foods market.

The Washington National TIF will generate $1.8 million in incremental tax revenue for the City this year. That is less than a fifth of what the Downtown II district provided, but the yield from the Washington National district is expected to grow dramatically once the Sherman Plaza condo and retail development is fully occupied later this year. Its valuation, now $48 million, has nearly doubled since its creation.

Revenue from the Washington National district has been used to construct the City's new Sherman Plaza parking garage. The City has said it anticipates using additional revenue from that TIF to improve Fountain Square.

The Southwest (Sam's Club) and Southwest II (Howard-Hartrey) TIFs showed little change in tax revenue this year. Combined, they will yield a total of $1.9 million in incremental tax revenue to the city. Their valuation has increased by about 400 percent since they were established in the early 1990s.

The City's two newest TIF districts, Howard-Ridge and West Evanston, have seen little new development so far and will generate just $128,000 in incremental tax revenue to the City this year.

OK, after a delay of only five months or so, here is the image I promised to upload: a scan of one of the old film schedules from the Varsity. I'm not sure, but I believe this one is probably from 1981 or 1982:

http://www.mekong.net/random/images/varsity_poster.jpg

Regards,
Bruce

Here's a link to a VARSITY THEATRE schedule from April 12 - June 20, 1981. I can't believe that I made it all the way through OUR HITLER!

http://www.emulsioncompulsion.com/gallery2/v/parkwaytheatre/VARSITY+THEATRE+_April+12+-+June+20_+1981_.jpg.html

A Geneva theater organ size 3/26 was installed in the Varsity Theater in 1926.

Recent photos are HERE

Been a while since I have responded, sorry. Thanks for the observations, history, posters and thoughts. Pretty impressive stuff considering the place has been closed for over 2 decades.

I am glad that there is still a lot of history and stories around about the place. I went by the Evanston Historical Society and they only had a few items here and there. Seems like you folks have more artifacts and facts!

P.S. no, I am not thinking of building condos on the site.

The Varsity in Evanston, Il., holds a special place in my childhood. I saw "Bambi" and "Cinderella" there in the late 1960's. The mention of the twinkling, "stars" on the ceiling brought back strong memories!! I never forgot that, it was my favorite thing about this theater and so magical, it made you feel like you were in some fairy-tale land! From the moldings to the velvet curtain, it was such a grand theater!

I grew up in Evanston from (birth) 65-72. I know the standard is to make way for the new, but isn't there some place for the old? I also realize that you can't go back in time, and sometimes we try too hard with the "retro" look and it comes out as sort of a caricature of itself. Kind of like an old lounge singer that doesn't know when to take the last bow! And much as I would love to see the Varsity restored to its days of grandeur, unfortunately it just wouldn't be able to compete with the huge "cineplexes" of today. Those of us born probably before the 1970's, would no doubt love to see a movie there again, I know I would. Maybe someone would open a nice restaurant there and then you'd be able to walk into the restored theater to see a movie? Maybe old movies? From the 1930's to the 1970's? I know that's a dumb idea. {{{sigh}}} It's just kind of sad sometimes when places that meant a lot to people, people who had first dates there, or got engaged there or went with a loved one who is no longer here, there, it's just sad to have them torn down and replaced by yet another coffee shop or a nail place or another Coldwell Banker.

After my Chicago high school had closed, I finished off my sophomore through senior years at ETHS. I used a family friends Evanston address, and commuted from the Near North Side. Until ETHS caught all who were commuting at Howard Street one morning, and sent notices that required all move into Evanston or pay an absurdly high tuition rate. They were right. My mom & I moved out there for the final 2 years.

After graduation, I moved in with some buddys a block from the Varsity, above the Italian Kitchen. Where I had previously worked, and others still did.

The Varsity was a classic, clean palace of a place. A real shame that it couldn't have remained as original, and as a mixed use theatre. Live stage & film would have been great.
Would have also been nice if NU had thrown the City of Evanston a bone, and taken the place over for just that purpose. Given their hefty tax breaks and all.
But they had their own auditoriums.

I remember seeing "Grease", "Sgt Peppers", "The Wanderers", "The Shining", "Americathon", and went back for some of the Marx Bros. double bills when it went to that format.
I think I also saw the pre-curser to "Grumpy Old Men" there. Something about a band of senior citizen bank robbers with the same crew. Walter Matthau, etc.

The illuminated ceiling stars were just like those at the Aragon Ballroom on Lawrence Ave.in Chicago. Except the Aragon also had a cloud machine.
The Aragon was never a theatre, so theres no page on Cinema Treasures.
But it has a rich history, and would be worth the internet search if one is interested.

The Valencia was a block and a half further South on Sherman. I think that was already closed and demolished by 1979. Evanston artist Ron Crawford did some great drawings of landmarks around town. The Valencia in ruins was one of them.

I thought I read the Varsity was going to take a crack at doing live music at on point. But given the future hell that the Coronet went through when it tried the same, I guess it was a post closure omen.

I wanted to add that the GAP was not the first retailer to go into the gutted/"remodeled" Varsity space. The first tenant was a chain record/CD store along the lines of Coconuts or Peaches.
It was there as late as 1990 or early `91.
It was right at the time when new CD's were being sold in that "long box" packaging format that tried to resemble record albums. A wasteful format that the eco-folks and some prominent musicians quickly fought to eliminate.
I think the GAP only went into the former Varsity space, when/after the old "County Seat" store just a bit further North on the same side of Sherman Ave. finally closed.

After the CD store closed, a similar one just as large if not larger, opened across the street where a CVS is now located. There was a giant, bi-level Barnes & Noble too, which has also since closed on the corner across from & just South of the Varsity.

There was also a tiny vintage book store down the alley and across from the Varsity's side exit doors. I think it was called Booksellers Row or something.

Bookman's Alley. It's still there.

Cool. I guess "Booksellers Row" would have implied more than just one store or something. And Bookman's Alley was quite the quaint place all by itself.

I can't remember if the Varsity had fire escapes hung over that same alley or not. Or if they were removed or not during the conversion. If so, even if some portions of the Varsity's old interior are just encapsulated as previous posts imply, ever converting back to some usable theatre space could be hampered. If the balcony exits are no longer usable or up to code. I'll take a spin by there soon.

Post, post...Drove by the Varsity today. I saw no type of fire escape on the North elevation of the old Varsity building. There could have been one that was removed, but I couldn't stop to look closely.
Maybe interior exit/stairwells from the balcony level, fed down to the first floor exits out to the alley back in the day.

David, at one point there were fire escapes in the north alley. You can just barely see them in this photo:

http://www.mekong.net/random/photo187.htm

Man, I miss that place. I loved that theatre!

Ah, you are correct. Thanks Cam!
Only in Evanston would the graffiti read "Rosebud", on a former vintage theatre.

Reactivate notification status.

A 70's photo of the Varisty. This is exactly how I remember it looking:

http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=varsity+evanston&ProductID=26435

Great photo source LTS!
I just pulled up one of the 3 Penny Cinema. Alas, no Playboy/Sandburg/Chelex pic to be found.
I might now just have to go back through all my CT theatres, and repost my notification status again.
Something I was avoiding.

P.S. The Coronet's on that site too.

1982 Day Photo

1982 Night Photo

There's a really excellent article about the guy who took the photos on American Classic Images, here:

http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2009/07/on_the_road_with_a_photo_hobo.html

That's a very nice story. A dedicated guy, for sure.

That was interesting. I didn't know that one person took all of those photos. I'm sure that alot of people are happy that he did. I'm one of them.

It reminds me of the German guy that flies to LA every year to take the you-are-here photos. No one really understands why he does this, regarding the particular city.

I was also surprised to learn that all those pics were taken by one guy. To even have COLLECTED that many photos would be an accomplishment... and to have actually TAKEN them is absolutely incredible.

Oddly enough, I wasn't looking for anything about American Classic Images when I found that article. Just stumbled across it when I was searching for something else on Google News.