Portage Theater
4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60641
4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60641
31 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1920 as the Portage Park Theater (the former name is still inscribed over the Neo-Classical style facade), this was the first theater built specifically for movies (and not vaudeville shows) in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago. The theater was built for the Ascher Brothers circuit and originally could seat nearly 2,000.
The Portage Theater remained a popular fixture of the neighborhood for decades, becoming a second-run movie house in the 1960’s. In the 1980’s, its auditorium was divided in two by putting a wall down the middle of the auditorium.
Oddly, after the box office stopped being used, tickets were then sold in the lobby off a table and folding chairs set up school bake sale style.
The Portage Theater was shuttered in 2001 after operating sporadically for the previous couple years. The theater was restorated and renovated, and reopened in the spring of 2006 as a single-screen, 1,300-plus seat theater featuring both silent and sound classic motion pictures and other events, both on-screen and live.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 176 comments)
Sure thing Paul2. Let me know if you have any others, I only came across your posts for here and MB.
The gateways organ came here right?
Heres a video
View link
Actually, the organ in the youtube video is the Silent Film Society of Chicago’s Allen electronic organ (now used as a traveling organ). Due to a “cultural climate change” at the Gateway (Copernicus Center) the organ was covered over by a stage extension making it unplayed and unplayable for nearly five years until its rescue by society volunteers. The organ is now at the Portage.
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yzvu3zz
Here is a nice photo of the Sears store at Six Corners from the 60s.
View link
View link
anyone happen to know the name of the font used in the sign? i’ve seen it used in a recent flyer, but have not been able to i.d. it myself, or been able to contact Dennis about it.
THEY NOW HAVE ONCE A MONTH MONSTER CLASSIC MOVIES PLUS A TOY AND MONSTER SHOW IN THE LOBBY…..THE DEALERS AND PEOPLE THERE ARE REALY COOL …GO TO THE PORTAGE WEBSITE AND SEE THE COOL LINE FOR THIS MONTH.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK YOU MONSTER FANS……
Heres a photo of the current organ at the portage
http://www.catoe.org/gateway.html
totally support the Historic Portage Theater! the staff is awesomely helpful! made our wedding an uber-success!
A 1940 photo of the Portage Theater can be seen here. I wish that vertical sign was still around but I think that was gone already when I started going to the Portage as a little boy in the early 70s.