Imperial Theatre
2329 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60612
2329 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60612
1 person
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The Imperial Theatre, in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood, opened in 1910 with 1,290-seats, and may have been originally built for either legitimate theatre or vaudeville before later switching to movies.
After closing in the 1980’s and falling into disrepair, the Imperial Theatre was demolished in 1994.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
Wow: by the time I saw the Imperial most of those buildings were gone. The theatre itself was being used for storage (this would’ve been late 80’s).
I lived at 2307 W. Madison, just down the street from the Imperial and went there regularly. I’m trying to locate a picture of my building and any of the surrounding area. Our apartment building was 3 stories tall, fronted on Madison, went around the corner on Oakley, and had back entrances on Monroe. The Alhambra Inn tavern was located on the corner of Madison and Oakley.
Phone number in 1960 was CAnal 6-3925.
I’m not looking to start an argument LM, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But I think any historical information related to a given theatre property is valuable, and that would include old phone numbers. The purpose of this web site is to create a historical mosaic.
In addition, I think it could be fun for someone who grew up in the neighborhood. Such a person might see that phone number and say, “I remember that phone number! I dialed it a thousand times!” Good memories, and so on.
I like the exchanges, because they remind me of my grandmother’s old number in Philly. I put the interesting exchanges on here in the hopes that someone else may feel the same way. If it’s just a generic phone number I don’t bother.
Here is a 1982 photo taken when the Imperial was a church:
http://tinyurl.com/ca5cqc
That’s exactly as I recall it in the summer of 1984 as well. The eastern facade was crumbling.
Not one of the Windy City’s Finest.
The Imperial’s old block has been redeveloped with retail. This is how the area looks now.
Though the building ended up only two stories high, this item from The Economist of September 25, 1909, is probably about the Imperial Theatre:
Architect George H. Grussing was quite active during this period, but doesn’t appear to be remembered now.