Ogden Theatre
1619 W. 63rd Street,
Chicago,
IL
60636
1619 W. 63rd Street,
Chicago,
IL
60636
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The principals of Pereira & Pereira, the firm that did the 1936 remodeling of the West Englewood Theatre, were William Pereira and Hal Pereira. Percival Pereira was an older architect who was never a member of this firm.
Spent many a Saturday afternoon at the Ogden in 1940, only needed 5 cents for the movie, and 5 cents for pop corn.
Here is a January 1915 ad from the Suburbanite Economist:
http://tinyurl.com/r83pb6
The first day of the demolition of the Ogden Theater was Friday, July 27, 1962, by the State Wrecking Company, 3415 So. Kedzie Avenue.
I believe this theater was known (even before it was the West Englewood) as the Hippodrome in 1910.
From the Chicago Sun Times movie listings dated Wednesday Oct. 9, 1957: OGDEN 1619 W. 63rd TOMORROW ON STAGE DR. JEKYL’S WEIRD SHOW MONSTERS RUN LOOSE IN THE AUDIENCE…GHOSTS SIT BY YOU…SEE JAMES DEAN MATERALIZED BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES…WE DARE YOU TO SEE IT. FREE PERFUME TO THE GIRLS. FREE 2 FOR 1 PASS FOR a FUTURE MOVIE. I was a kid clear across town at the time- but would have loved to be in Englewood that day. And James Dean??? Turns out “THE JAMES DEAN STORY” was playing that week at the nearby Southtown and many other neighborhood theatres,along with “SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS”.
I grew up going there-25 cartoons on Saturday afternoons-first time I saw scantily clad (for then) ladies at movies with my parents.
I watched the theater being torn down while I was in high school (Lindblom). The building was not built to be torn down. It took them months to get it down. The iron ball would take a swing at the auditorium wall and a few bricks would fall off.
A Kimball theater organ size 2/10 was installed in the West Englewood Theater in 1921.
CORRECTION—Second Line in hed should read:
to Be Entirely Remodeled
From the Chicago Tribune, August 2, 1936
West Englewood Theater
to Be Complete Remodeled
Another step in a modernization program for the nineteen theaters in the Warner Brothers Chicago circuit will be taken, according to James E. Coston, zone manager, when the West Englewood Theater, on 63rd Street near Ashland Avenue, will be completely remodeled at a cost of $75,000. It will also be renamed The Ogden. The playhouse will be closed after the last picture August 9, to permit B.B. Buchanan, theater consultant for Pereira & Pereira, architects, to assume charge of the work which will require three weeks. The entire front, lobby, and foyer will be done in the modern manner.
Here is an article from the Suburbanite Economist dated 3/26/61 concerning closure of the Ogden:
Old Ogden Theater Is Shut Down
Building Commissioner George Ramsey Friday condemned as unsafe the Ogden Theater at 1619 W. 63rd Street. This action came after complaints of zoning and building violations were filed by South Lynne Community Council and West Ogden Civic Improvement Association.
Last used six months ago for movies, the theater had been the scene all last week of “The Great Miracle Revivalâ€, which was marked by false fire alarms, four arrests for disorderly conduct and one for shooting fireworks. According to police reports, the theater has been leased by the religious group for four months with an option to renew.