Congress Theater

The Congress Theater in the news again, from today’s Chicago Tribune

A great photo of the Congress under construction in 1925 can be seen here.

WBEZ’s Lee Bey blogs about the Congress Theater here.

I met the daughter of one of 2 original Congress Theater projectionists, yesterday at my aunt’s nursing home. I’m going to quiz her about stories & maybe some pictures at a later date. Her dad was Fred Galluzzo. The 2nd was a man named Sam, whose last name she couldn’t recall. They used to drop their dad at work, so they could keep the car for the day.

The Congress made the news this morning. Apparently Chuck Berry collapsed and had to be helped off stage during his show last night. But returned later to a thinning crowd.

At 84, he had supposedly done 2 New Years shows the night before in New York.
One story has him being checked out by paramedics before the Congress show. Only to fall ill during it as well.
He left in a limo though, not an ambulance.

View link

A 4/20 Wurlitzer was installed in the theatre in 1926

This is another 2009 photo.

Here is another 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d4b97h

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d6h89o

Yes, you got me, I do agree. I guess the State St. elevation just turned my stomach so bad, that I wanted to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Even the shorter building next door to the North is a basically a prop front.
Illuminated window boxes where Dr. Wax Records or whatever used to be.

Thanks for educating me on some of landmark status' angles. What I heard on CVS was they were fully expecting a new structure at first. Then the powers that be informed the building’s actual owner (CVS is a tenant), that the building must remain. CVS then reluctantly agreed to the conversion.
They should have just gone over to the 17 year vacant-S/E corner, which already looked like a drug store. Now a Bank of America.

The heights of the old Hotsie and apartment building to the East consequently had to be rebuilt as was by CVS.
Hence the differing heights.

The Congress has hope, but is in bad need of some cosmetic TLC.
I understand why they removed the seats, but it cost them the “new” roller derby in the process.

The biggest, costliest thing about these old palaces, is heating them in the winter. And keeping a roof and the brickwork watertight.

Greetings BWChicago. I’ll gladly admit that I probably know next to nothing, on how the landmarking is supposed to or does work.
After surviving Ald. Natarus for over 30 years in my old ward, I only know how I would have “liked” landmarking to work.
Given everything classic that was taken down on the Near North side over the years,
landmark status sadly always seemed like a last resort that ended up not protecting anything enough anyway.

I do know though that most owners are resistant to landmark status. Because of the limitations it puts them under on how they can ever remodel in the future. However as we’ve learned in some cases though, even that status is so loose that sometimes all they need do is preserve the facade.
Even a “National Register of Historic Places” status doesn’t really protect a building in Chicago. I’ll await to see what happens to Pearson St.(Hair Loft) by Loyola.

Sometimes even an opposite “preservation overkill” is applied. Building’s that even I agree should have come down, but instead were poorly rebuilt to remain “preserved”.
The CVS at State & Division is a perfect example. They simply tore down everything except the outsides walls of it, and it’s Northbound neighbor. Then they built the CVS inside of it all. Even the upstairs in fake. A backlit hollow space over two stories tall inside. They blasted a blank brown sign right through an old concrete morter & pestal motif on the State St. side. Ironically it was originally a drug store. Then they hacked off brick work from where a door used to be, and left it that way.
Truly an eyesore “after” preservation.

I guess my interpretation of how landmarking “should” work, is that a protected building is just that.
And that only plumbing, HVAC, electric & the roof would be capable of being updated. But in a case of say the Esquire, I would have been happy if they rebuilt the interior however was needed to make it workable. Since it was already gutted when it was multi-plexed. Aty least we’d get to keep the art deco exterior & marquee.

The Congress recently repainted their marquee.

David, I’m not sure you’re entirely clear on how landmarking is supposed to work.