State Theatre

11016 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, IL 60628

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Additional Info

Architects: Felix M. Bernham, Roy B. Blass, Henry L. Newhouse

Styles: Renaissance Revival

Previous Names: Roseland-State Theatre

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State Theatre

This theatre, which was opened in 1922, was officially simply the State Theatre, though it was also known as the Roseland-State Thetare (as it was located in the heart of the South Side Chicago neighborhood of Roseland.)

It sat at the corner of S. Michigan Avenue and E. 110th Street, in a two story, block-long building that also housed offices and stores.

It could seat 2,030, and was decorated with a highly ornate Neo-Classical terra-cotta facade, with an interior originally in elegant Renaissance style. It was remodeled in 1941 to the plans of architect Roy B. Blass.

The State Theatre’s days as a movie house ended in 1969, and afterward, it housed a church for many years until it was unfortunately demolished in 1997.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

Recent comments (view all 26 comments)

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on October 11, 2006 at 3:37 pm

The photo above is pretty close to how the building looked the last time I saw it (around 1990).

dougbruton
dougbruton on October 11, 2006 at 4:03 pm

John,
I remember the swimming instructor at the 111th Street YMCA was a Bob Williams…by coincindence, he was also from my home town, Denison, Texas. Do you remember him?
Doug

datoad
datoad on October 11, 2006 at 4:11 pm

Doug
Not that I recall. I only went there a couple times. Most of my swimming was at Palmer Park
John

janetl22
janetl22 on January 21, 2007 at 6:40 pm

Hi, I grew up in Roseland as did both my parents familys. I graduated from Fenger High in January 1965, and lived on 113th and Edbrooke Ave.. I guess we all thought we would raise our children there and they would attend the schools we did. I hear that the Pullman area still looks good, many of my family at one time worked for the Pullman company. I would love to hear from others that lived there.

GrandMogul
GrandMogul on April 10, 2007 at 11:15 am

Yes, it’s true, Red Skelton did play the State!
NEWS ITEM:
Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, May 19, 1959, s. 3, p. 10, c. 6:
RED, ONCE FIRED, BOUNCES BACK
SKELTON TELLS OF CHANGE, by Stephen Harrison

Richard Skelton, also known as Red and once fired here by popular request, returned Monday to the scene of the crime—rehired by popular request.

Can’t Vie with Legs
Having abandoned Vincennes, he was playing vaudevile in such landmarks as the Haymarket, the State & Congress, and the Gem, where aficionados paid a lot more attention to burlesque girls' legs than they ever did to Skelton.


[At the time of this item Skelton was headlining at the famed Chez Paree.]

Broan
Broan on January 13, 2009 at 6:14 am

The 2009 CTA calendar features this image for August: View link

datoad
datoad on January 19, 2009 at 8:37 am

That calendar sure brought some memories especially the one showing corner of 111th and Michigan. Wow!!!
John Stitnizky

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 25, 2012 at 4:54 am

Decorator Rex Davis of the Teichert studios had some unkind things to say about the original decor of the State in this Boxoffice article of June 21, 1941. The house had just been redecorated by Teichert, under the direction of architect Roy B. Blass.

Henry L. Newhouse and F. M. Bernham were the architects of the State Theatre. A rendering of the building can be seen at the bottom of this page of the February 2, 1924, issue of Exhibitors Herald.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on March 30, 2015 at 10:24 pm

Undated photo added courtesy of the Chicago’s Extinct Businesses Facebook page.

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