Norwal Theater
518 W. 26th Street,
Chicago,
IL
60616
518 W. 26th Street,
Chicago,
IL
60616
1 person
favorited this theater
A theater operated at this address as early as 1913. The Butler could seat nearly 300 and was located on 26th Street between Normal Avenue and Wallace Street, not far from where today’s I-55 and I-90/94 cross. The Butler remained in operation into the mid-30s.
The theater was reopened sometime in the 40s as the Norwal (for its location near Normal and Wallace) and remained in operation into the 50s. The building was last used for retail, but was was torn down in the early 2000s.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Was this later known as the Norval (Norwal? Normal?), operating into the 50s?
Brian, this was in fact renamed the Norwal around 1940 and remained open into the 50s. I believe the name comes from the theater being located on 26th Street between Normal Avenue and Wallace Street. I’ve also seen it spelled Norval, but don’t know if that is a typo or not. The Film Daily Yearbook of 1945 shows it as the Norwal and seating 299. There was also a Normal Theatre, but that was different altogether, and was on 119th Street.
Here is a 2000-dated photo of the former theater building.
It has since been demolished
If you check the Ramova Theatre Facebook site, there is an old picture of the Norwal Theatre.