Portage Theatre
4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60641
4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60641
36 people
favorited this theater
Opened December 11, 1920 with Jack Pickford in “Just Out of College”. The Portage Park Theatre (the former name is still inscribed over the Neo-Classical style facade), was the first theatre built specifically for movies (and not vaudeville shows) in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago. The theatre was built for the Ascher Brothers circuit and originally could seat nearly 2,000. By 1929 it was operated by Fox Chicago.
The Portage Theatre 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 Theatre was shuttered in 2001 after operating sporadically for the previous couple years. The theatre was restorated and renovated, and reopened in the spring of 2006 as a single-screen, 1,300-plus seat theatre featuring both silent and sound classic motion pictures and other events, both on-screen and live.
It was closed on May 25, 2013, and reopened in June 2014. It was closed in February 2018.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 208 comments)
Rear or side entrance appears several times in this film beginning at the 59:17 mark.
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170106/downtown/check-out-drivers-braving-infamous-lake-shore-drive-s-curve
Try http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/17506 for those, david
Ah thanks, will do.
It appears they will be closing in February 2018.
http://nadignewspapers.com/2017/12/11/portage-theater-expected-to-close-in-mid-february-no-new-operator-has-been-announced/
Anything new happening at the theater?
Not as I can see. Their website just reads “Coming Soon” on a black screen, and their Facebook page has been inactive since May when it was advertising the Patio Theatre’s events.
Advertised as part of Fox Chicago Theatres in 1929 newspaper ad displayed here
Just added the 1929 newspaper ad to the “Photo” section. Thanks for the info.
Added new picture in picture section showing ghost sign on the rear wall of the theater building from the alley.
Today is its Centennial birthday.