Irving Theatre

4003-5 W. Irving Park Road,
Chicago, IL 60641

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Essaness Theaters Corp.

Architects: Jeremiah J. Cerny, John Adolph Emil Eberson

Nearby Theaters

Irving Theatre

Opened September 1, 1917, at the corner of W. Irving Park Road and N. Pulaski (then Crawford) Road, near Independence Park, the Irving Theatre survived until around 1970 before closing, and was demolished sometime later.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

Recent comments (view all 23 comments)

Broan
Broan on November 30, 2008 at 10:52 am

It says “IRVING THEATER PROPERTY”. So obviously the building was named after the owner, and not the theater.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 30, 2008 at 10:55 am

Pulaski was Crawford, I think. It does say “Race Theater building”. I guess the Irving was in the Race Theater building, which is kind of odd.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 30, 2008 at 7:20 pm

Just to confirm, Pulaski becomes Crawford Ave. in Lincolnwood, North of Devon Ave. I think Pulaski is 3600 West.
The City of Chicago is who renamed Crawford Ave. after Casimer Pulaski. So it remained Crawford Ave. North of the city.
Irving Park Road or Blvd. is 4000 North.

mikey2
mikey2 on May 12, 2010 at 7:27 pm

I too saw “Night of the living dead” at the Irving, must have been in 68 or 69, gosh I was like 8? Very scary. But I thought the “Exorcist” at the Commodore (early 70’s?) was even more scary.

(I now reside at Stateville CC)

rivest266
rivest266 on June 25, 2012 at 3:16 pm

This opened on September 1st, 1917. Grand opening ad here.

TracyRowan
TracyRowan on January 2, 2013 at 9:28 am

The theater was in the Race Hotel, a large, residential hotel that also housed Andie’s Candies and a restaurant. I’m not sure what name is most correct, but it was more known as “Race Hotel” than “Race Theater building” in the neighborhood.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 15, 2014 at 6:09 pm

Although the address is a little bit off (I believe Chicago shifted some addresses in the late 1910s-early 1920s) an item in June 17, 1916, issue of The American Contractor could be about the theater that opened as the Irving. It was a three story hotel and theater building for A. Y. Race, at 3946-3956 N. Crawford Avenue. It was 132x175, and was designed by architect Jeremiah J. Cerny. Cerny was also the architect of the Essanay Studios, where Charlie Chaplin’s early movies were filmed, and which is now a designated Chicago landmark.

hbr1
hbr1 on March 4, 2018 at 11:30 am

Going Tuesday 3/6/2018 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to see an old Vincent Price movie Last Man on Earth. His daughter will be at the showing. Saw the movie the first time in the spring of 1965 at the Irving Park Theater in Chicago at the cost of 25 cents.

kenny1950
kenny1950 on February 19, 2020 at 7:45 am

As I can recall, after the theater was sold and demolished, a Mobil gas station was built there. I can remember they had a new style of gas pumps. They were round, like a cylinder.

Broan
Broan on March 1, 2021 at 8:06 am

This was likely an early John Eberson work, as the American Terra Cotta Index notes for this building, “Records list both Cerny and Ebertson”. Eberson likely handled the theater portion of the building.

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