Village Art Theatre
1548-50 N. Clark Street,
Chicago,
IL
60610
1548-50 N. Clark Street,
Chicago,
IL
60610
15 people
favorited this theater
Built as the Germania Theatre in 1916 but changed to the Parkside Theatre after the US entry into the First World War when anti-German sentiment was running high. The theater later went through a couple of other name changes over the years including the Gold Coast Theatre and the Globe Theatre. The theatre is located on Clark Street at Germania Place in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago.
Prior to being divided into four small auditoriums in the early-1990’s, the theater could seat 900. Little remains of the original interior design, but the facade, despite being almost entirely hidden behind an ugly modern marquee, is still intact and features red brick and beige terra-cotta highlights.
Long a popular venue for art, foreign and cult films, the Village Art Theatre was closed in March 2007.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 153 comments)
Does anyone know why the terra cotta is being removed from the Village Theatre? I just uploaded a photo that I took yesterday (Sunday, April 20, 2014) to the photos section.
9/5/2013 9/6/2013 2013-1504 1548 N. Clark 100486552 Village Theater 42
Exterior: Remove and rebuilt 76 linear feet of 3' high parapet along Clark Street façade per Historic Preservation stamped plans dated 9/6/13.
Salvageable masonry to be retained and reinstalled. Any required new masonry to match historic size, color, texture and appearance. Masonry to be cataloged and evaluated per submitted plans. Historic Preservation staff to be notified to view and approve terra cotta samples prior to order and installation. No other work permitted with this approval.
I hope they preserve it soon. I was just by there and the entire building is slanting noticeably to the right.
The Village in 1978: an artistic and financial success, according to Gene Siskel.
The Village Theater may be haunted! Supposedly the last marquee posting occurred in 2007 when it closed, but early Friday morning after the stormy night ‘Bed Of Fear’ appeared above the boarded up doors. Later in the afternoon, the entire south side of the main marquee blew out flying past unsuspecting passersby before landing just short of W. Germania Place. Check it out if you’re in the area.
I added my 10/08/15 photo of the marquee wrapped in the upcoming development’s advertisement.
The parapet restoration looks well-done.
Here’s a 10/06/15 article about the project.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20151006/CRED0701/151009914/old-town-condos-go-on-the-market
Thanks DavidZornig for the updates. Glad they decided not to tear down the theatre!
Somebody wrote to me and told me that the Germania Theatre might have opened on June 24, 1916; although he said that is unconfirmed. Does anyone out there know an exact date of the Germania’s opening? I can’t find any ads in the June 24, 1916 Tribune.