Elmwood Theater
631 Harrison Street,
Oak Park,
IL
60304
631 Harrison Street,
Oak Park,
IL
60304
1 person
favorited this theater
This small Oak Park movie house opened in 1913, the same year as its three other movie houses (the Oak Park-later called the Lamar Theater, the Southern Theater and the Playhouse Theater). It was located on Harrison Street, near Gunderson Avenue.
The Elmwood Theater operated until the early-1950’s, when the property was acquired (along with many of its neighbors)to make way for the Congress Expressway (renamed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway in 1964). The theater was demolished about 1954.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
I have family living there.
The description says that the Elmwood Theatre was near Gunderson Avenue, which is three blocks east of the location at which Google Maps placed its pin icon. It might not be Google’s fault this time. The address of the theater might have been in the 400 block of Harrison Street, not the 600 block.
Although the following item was in the February 27 issue of Construction News in 1915, not 1913 when the Elmwood is supposed to have opened, I think it could be about the Elmwood Theatre:
Elmwood Avenue is one block east of Gunderson Avenue. As for the 1915 construction date, if there was an Elmwood Theatre as early as 1913, it’s possible that the house opened as a small storefront operation and moved to new quarters two years later.