Just catching up on these Uptown posts…it would break my heart to see the Uptown end up in rubble like the Nortown. As a side note, Jayne1955, you and I worked together at the Nortown for several years. Not sure if there is a way to say hi to you off line and catch up.
Hey Batwoman:
I remember Villa Palermo well! Great thin crust pizza. I recall that two guys ran the place. They may have been father and son since they looked alike. After I moved to the suburbs from Rogers Park 15 years ago, I found that these same two guys had opened up a Villa Palermo in Palatine on Rand Road. It has since closed.
For an interesting view of the Nortown, go to Google Maps, and enter in the address 6340 N. Western, Chicago, IL. Click on the “street view” and you will get an image of the Nortown as it was being demolished.
Considering that the Nortown was built in 1931, I don’t believe that the nautical design had any relationship to the shops that may have been on Devon Avenue and their clientle of the time. The relatively small lobby did not allow for any type of waterfalls. I worked at the Nortown for seven years and the interior color scheme never impressed me as being “pastel”. The Granada Theatre to the east and the Uptown Theatre to the south had much more elaborate exteriors and interiors. I have several photographs that I took from the early 1980’s that I hope to scan shortly and post on this site. I think you will see from them that the interior had rather bold colors.
I don’t recall that the theater had a balcony, although I may be wrong. I do recall that there was a platform-type of seating on the main floor which provided quite a viewing angle. I saw “Raiders of the Lost Ark” there in July of 1981. I was working at the Nortown Theater at the time, which was a Plitt Theater. The LV (as some of us called it) was a Brotman and Sherman house. I remember that I would call over to the manager at the LV to get Nortown employees passed in for free. And the manager at the LV (who had worked at the Nortown at one time) would do the same. One benefit that the LV had over the Nortown was free, plentiful parking.
I have pictures and 35 mm slides of the exterior and interior of the Nortown from the late 70’s and early 80’s taken when I worked there. They are currently on loan to the owner of Urban Remains Chicago, the company doing the salvage of the Nortown. I will contact him and see if I can get them back in time for the Historical Society.
By the way, Batwoman, I also lived a block from the Nortown. West Ridge was used by some of the community organizations in the area. Technically, there is not a West Rogers Park and an East Rogers Park. It is West Ridge and Rogers Park. I grew up in both areas.
Jerry, I was working at the Nortown when you saw Star Wars. Per the messages above, it was possible to actually sell out the Nortown, including the balcony. We did it when we had Star Wars. However, it was infrequent after Star Wars that we ever had to open up the balcony again. I recall that we did do pretty good business when we had the movies “Beverly Hills Cop” and “The Muppet Movie”. There were other movies as well that we were kept hopping, especially on Friday nights and weekends. But the majority of the time the theater was not packed. Certainly, as I commented in an earlier message above, there were some weeknights where only thirty people would show up. And, since there have been big changes in the neighborhood from the late ‘70s and early '80s, I doubt that a movie like “Beverly Hills Cop” would pull in the same amount of patrons. Still, I think that it is extremely sad that my children will never know the wonderment of a movie “palace”. I recall that many patrons that were making their first visit to the Nortown would look up in amazement at the mural ceilings in the lobby and then step into the auditorium and stare at the twinkling lights in the ceiling and the nautical themes along the walls.
I visited the Nortown yesterday through the courtesy of Urban Remains Chicago. Most of the auditorium has been demolished. Part of the balcony remained. The lobby is essentially unrecognizable. It was interesting to note that what had been the manager’s office had been converted to men’s and women’s bathrooms. To say the least, it was very disheartening to see the destruction of this beautiful building. I took some pictures that I can post here. I also found my photographs from 1984 while the theater was still open (and before it was tripled). Can anyone tell me how to post images on this web site?
Thanks
I agree with supercharger96. Having worked at the Nortown as both an usher and a manager for Plitt Theaters, I have quite a bit of life’s memories tied to that building. As an usher, I removed the old paint from the front doors and polished the underlying metal. I also spent a summer painting the first floor lobby. I would like to be able to retain something tangible from the building. I don’t have $1250.00 to spend on a column from the lobby but if a few bricks or pieces of the wool carpet (if it remains) could be saved for a reasonable price, then I would be interested.
I drove by the Nortown last night and the theater is still standing. Of course the exterior looks terrible with the missing marquee and boarded up front. I did drive through the alley behind the theater and there is a fence along the back of the building with a tarp attached to the fence so that nobody can peer through the fence. I do have to say that it depresses me to go by the Nortown and the neighborhood in general. The other retail establishments in the area are stunningly decrepit. I can remeber a time when the retail owners took pride in their storefronts and kept the sidewalks around Devon and Western clean.
Hello Cam:
I would love to see anything that you have on the Varsity. I was a relief manager for Plitt Theatres and would give the regular manager at the Varsity his night off. I also worked at the Nortown and Gateway Theatres in Chicago. I remember that many “B” movies were shown at the Varsity. The busiest time that I recall was when we showed the George Burns movie, “Going In Style”. I am curious if it is possible to see what is left of the original inside of the building. As a side note, it had a somewhat interesting design to the manager’s office. There were actually two of them, a very small one on the main floor that contained the safe and a fairly large office on the second floor.
I just had a recollection (one of many) from my days (and nights) working at the Nortown, both as an usher and a relief manager. When you first passed the ticket taker and turned into the first auditorium entrance on the right, you were at a single row of seats on the right side. The next row of seats was somewhat far forward of this first row. The theatre was built at a time when seating for wheelchairs was not taken into consideration. However, when the occasional theatre patron (as we called the people who bought a ticket) in a wheelchair came in, we would direct him or her to this row of seats. There was plenty of room so that the person did not even have to get out of the wheelchair to watch the movie. Also, I started calling this row of seats the “executives' row”. We would take our breaks there and sometimes sit and eat food from the McDonalds or Pepe’s Tacos that were on Devon Avenue just east of Western. Those were the days!
Imrael9, I also was a relief manager for Plitt Theatres in the late 70’s up until 1985. And I also worked at the Will, Gateway, Nortown, and Varsity Theatres. I probably know you! As I recall, Lenny Cohen was the manager of the Will when I used to give him his day off. I am Steve.
I have never been to Russell Phillps web site. His photos of the Nortown and Varsity Theatres are fantastic. I wonder if he has more of them available. I was actually working at both theatres as a relief manager when he took these pictures!
I was thinking the same thing…about the only thing recognizable from when I worked at the Nortown are the columns. I wonder what happened to the two metal shields that were on the lobby wall near the entrances to the main auditorium. They would have been among the first items removed for sale. I wonder how the plaster heads from the auditorium were removed for sale…with a reciprocating saw? I have many pictures of the Nortown from the late 70’s and early 80’s in storage. I hope to find them and place them here on this web site. Question for this site: some of the photos contain images of co-workers. Can I place these on this site?
Hello all:
Interesting Jerry that you saw Star Wars at the Nortown. I was an usher at the time. I had just started working there a week before Star Wars started. I recall that the movie being shown was “Rollercoaster” which was in Sensurround. We had those big black ugly speakers in the auditorium. By the way, we had Star Wars for about half a year. It started the summer of 1977. The first show started at 12:00 noon going through a midnight last showing. We actually had some showings that were sold out, even with the balcony open. I worked at the Nortown for over seven years, up until the time that it was tripled. Eventually I became a relief manager for Plitt Theatres, rotating between the Nortown, the Gateway, and Varsity (in Evanston)Theatres. The pictures that are posted of the current state of the Nortown break my heart. While I was an usher I painted the main floor lobby walls with a glaze paint. You can see the walls on some of the earlier posted images of the lobby. By the way, in these recently posted images of the current state of the Nortown you will see light blue painted ceilings. These are not original. It seems that somebody has painted over the beautiful ceiling murals that were on the second level. More heartbreak for me.
Brian, those pictures are just so depressing to me. I worked at the Nortown from 1977 to 1984. Batwoman, I also have dreams about my days working at the Nortown. Those pictures indicate to me that the Nortown has gone so far downhill that it will never be re-opened as a movie theatre. Financially, I doubt that the neighborhood could support the Nortown as a theatre again. I remember working there some weeknights when 30 people would show up to sit in a 2,000 seat theatre. And of course, the money to rehab the building would be huge. It sort of reminds me of the Uptown Theatre. My gut tells me that the best thing to do would be to tear down the building and just have memories.
As to when the theatre was tri-plexed, it was in 1984. The last movie to be shown at the Nortown as a single theatre that year was “Footloose”. I was working as a relief manager for Plitt Theatres that year. Once the theatre was tripled, it lost much of its grandeur with the exception of the lobby and staircase. Prior to it being tripled, there was moderate water damage over the years to the interior of the auditorium. Plitt never wanted to invest money into the repair of this damage. I have wanted to go see what condition the theatre is currently in, but part of me does not want to see what it is like now.
Interesting to read these latest messages. I lived a block away from the Nortown on Rosemont. I used to walk home for dinner when I was working there. I may have even been working while some of you were watching a movie. By the way, to the person who saw Star Wars in 1977, we had that movie for over 6 months. I was working as an usher at that time and had every line memorized. As I recall, for the first few weeks of the Star Wars run (it started in the summer of 1977), the daily matinee started at 12:00 noon with weekend midnight showings. It was one long day!
Great pictures! I have some photos that I took in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that I will have to dig out. Looking at these brought back many memories, including the summer that I spent painting the lobby walls when I was an usher. See the “Auditorium Entrance” image for the tan colored walls.
Too little public parking (only a small lot across the street), and changing neighborhood demographics.
Just catching up on these Uptown posts…it would break my heart to see the Uptown end up in rubble like the Nortown. As a side note, Jayne1955, you and I worked together at the Nortown for several years. Not sure if there is a way to say hi to you off line and catch up.
I have images that I would love to post on this site but am not sure how…any suggestions?
Hey Batwoman:
I remember Villa Palermo well! Great thin crust pizza. I recall that two guys ran the place. They may have been father and son since they looked alike. After I moved to the suburbs from Rogers Park 15 years ago, I found that these same two guys had opened up a Villa Palermo in Palatine on Rand Road. It has since closed.
For an interesting view of the Nortown, go to Google Maps, and enter in the address 6340 N. Western, Chicago, IL. Click on the “street view” and you will get an image of the Nortown as it was being demolished.
Considering that the Nortown was built in 1931, I don’t believe that the nautical design had any relationship to the shops that may have been on Devon Avenue and their clientle of the time. The relatively small lobby did not allow for any type of waterfalls. I worked at the Nortown for seven years and the interior color scheme never impressed me as being “pastel”. The Granada Theatre to the east and the Uptown Theatre to the south had much more elaborate exteriors and interiors. I have several photographs that I took from the early 1980’s that I hope to scan shortly and post on this site. I think you will see from them that the interior had rather bold colors.
I don’t recall that the theater had a balcony, although I may be wrong. I do recall that there was a platform-type of seating on the main floor which provided quite a viewing angle. I saw “Raiders of the Lost Ark” there in July of 1981. I was working at the Nortown Theater at the time, which was a Plitt Theater. The LV (as some of us called it) was a Brotman and Sherman house. I remember that I would call over to the manager at the LV to get Nortown employees passed in for free. And the manager at the LV (who had worked at the Nortown at one time) would do the same. One benefit that the LV had over the Nortown was free, plentiful parking.
I have pictures and 35 mm slides of the exterior and interior of the Nortown from the late 70’s and early 80’s taken when I worked there. They are currently on loan to the owner of Urban Remains Chicago, the company doing the salvage of the Nortown. I will contact him and see if I can get them back in time for the Historical Society.
By the way, Batwoman, I also lived a block from the Nortown. West Ridge was used by some of the community organizations in the area. Technically, there is not a West Rogers Park and an East Rogers Park. It is West Ridge and Rogers Park. I grew up in both areas.
By the way, whomever moderates this web site may want to change the Nortown’s status from “closed/demolished” to “demolished”.
Jerry, I was working at the Nortown when you saw Star Wars. Per the messages above, it was possible to actually sell out the Nortown, including the balcony. We did it when we had Star Wars. However, it was infrequent after Star Wars that we ever had to open up the balcony again. I recall that we did do pretty good business when we had the movies “Beverly Hills Cop” and “The Muppet Movie”. There were other movies as well that we were kept hopping, especially on Friday nights and weekends. But the majority of the time the theater was not packed. Certainly, as I commented in an earlier message above, there were some weeknights where only thirty people would show up. And, since there have been big changes in the neighborhood from the late ‘70s and early '80s, I doubt that a movie like “Beverly Hills Cop” would pull in the same amount of patrons. Still, I think that it is extremely sad that my children will never know the wonderment of a movie “palace”. I recall that many patrons that were making their first visit to the Nortown would look up in amazement at the mural ceilings in the lobby and then step into the auditorium and stare at the twinkling lights in the ceiling and the nautical themes along the walls.
I visited the Nortown yesterday through the courtesy of Urban Remains Chicago. Most of the auditorium has been demolished. Part of the balcony remained. The lobby is essentially unrecognizable. It was interesting to note that what had been the manager’s office had been converted to men’s and women’s bathrooms. To say the least, it was very disheartening to see the destruction of this beautiful building. I took some pictures that I can post here. I also found my photographs from 1984 while the theater was still open (and before it was tripled). Can anyone tell me how to post images on this web site?
Thanks
I agree with supercharger96. Having worked at the Nortown as both an usher and a manager for Plitt Theaters, I have quite a bit of life’s memories tied to that building. As an usher, I removed the old paint from the front doors and polished the underlying metal. I also spent a summer painting the first floor lobby. I would like to be able to retain something tangible from the building. I don’t have $1250.00 to spend on a column from the lobby but if a few bricks or pieces of the wool carpet (if it remains) could be saved for a reasonable price, then I would be interested.
I drove by the Nortown last night and the theater is still standing. Of course the exterior looks terrible with the missing marquee and boarded up front. I did drive through the alley behind the theater and there is a fence along the back of the building with a tarp attached to the fence so that nobody can peer through the fence. I do have to say that it depresses me to go by the Nortown and the neighborhood in general. The other retail establishments in the area are stunningly decrepit. I can remeber a time when the retail owners took pride in their storefronts and kept the sidewalks around Devon and Western clean.
Hello Cam:
I would love to see anything that you have on the Varsity. I was a relief manager for Plitt Theatres and would give the regular manager at the Varsity his night off. I also worked at the Nortown and Gateway Theatres in Chicago. I remember that many “B” movies were shown at the Varsity. The busiest time that I recall was when we showed the George Burns movie, “Going In Style”. I am curious if it is possible to see what is left of the original inside of the building. As a side note, it had a somewhat interesting design to the manager’s office. There were actually two of them, a very small one on the main floor that contained the safe and a fairly large office on the second floor.
I just had a recollection (one of many) from my days (and nights) working at the Nortown, both as an usher and a relief manager. When you first passed the ticket taker and turned into the first auditorium entrance on the right, you were at a single row of seats on the right side. The next row of seats was somewhat far forward of this first row. The theatre was built at a time when seating for wheelchairs was not taken into consideration. However, when the occasional theatre patron (as we called the people who bought a ticket) in a wheelchair came in, we would direct him or her to this row of seats. There was plenty of room so that the person did not even have to get out of the wheelchair to watch the movie. Also, I started calling this row of seats the “executives' row”. We would take our breaks there and sometimes sit and eat food from the McDonalds or Pepe’s Tacos that were on Devon Avenue just east of Western. Those were the days!
Imrael9, I also was a relief manager for Plitt Theatres in the late 70’s up until 1985. And I also worked at the Will, Gateway, Nortown, and Varsity Theatres. I probably know you! As I recall, Lenny Cohen was the manager of the Will when I used to give him his day off. I am Steve.
Hi Brian:
I just responded on the Will Rogers Theatre thread. I need to dig out my photos from when I worked at the Nortown, scan them, and post them.
I have never been to Russell Phillps web site. His photos of the Nortown and Varsity Theatres are fantastic. I wonder if he has more of them available. I was actually working at both theatres as a relief manager when he took these pictures!
I was thinking the same thing…about the only thing recognizable from when I worked at the Nortown are the columns. I wonder what happened to the two metal shields that were on the lobby wall near the entrances to the main auditorium. They would have been among the first items removed for sale. I wonder how the plaster heads from the auditorium were removed for sale…with a reciprocating saw? I have many pictures of the Nortown from the late 70’s and early 80’s in storage. I hope to find them and place them here on this web site. Question for this site: some of the photos contain images of co-workers. Can I place these on this site?
Hello all:
Interesting Jerry that you saw Star Wars at the Nortown. I was an usher at the time. I had just started working there a week before Star Wars started. I recall that the movie being shown was “Rollercoaster” which was in Sensurround. We had those big black ugly speakers in the auditorium. By the way, we had Star Wars for about half a year. It started the summer of 1977. The first show started at 12:00 noon going through a midnight last showing. We actually had some showings that were sold out, even with the balcony open. I worked at the Nortown for over seven years, up until the time that it was tripled. Eventually I became a relief manager for Plitt Theatres, rotating between the Nortown, the Gateway, and Varsity (in Evanston)Theatres. The pictures that are posted of the current state of the Nortown break my heart. While I was an usher I painted the main floor lobby walls with a glaze paint. You can see the walls on some of the earlier posted images of the lobby. By the way, in these recently posted images of the current state of the Nortown you will see light blue painted ceilings. These are not original. It seems that somebody has painted over the beautiful ceiling murals that were on the second level. More heartbreak for me.
Brian, those pictures are just so depressing to me. I worked at the Nortown from 1977 to 1984. Batwoman, I also have dreams about my days working at the Nortown. Those pictures indicate to me that the Nortown has gone so far downhill that it will never be re-opened as a movie theatre. Financially, I doubt that the neighborhood could support the Nortown as a theatre again. I remember working there some weeknights when 30 people would show up to sit in a 2,000 seat theatre. And of course, the money to rehab the building would be huge. It sort of reminds me of the Uptown Theatre. My gut tells me that the best thing to do would be to tear down the building and just have memories.
I can confirm that the painting of the auditorium walls was done after Cineplex Odeon (the successor to Plitt Theatres) closed and sold the Nortown.
As to when the theatre was tri-plexed, it was in 1984. The last movie to be shown at the Nortown as a single theatre that year was “Footloose”. I was working as a relief manager for Plitt Theatres that year. Once the theatre was tripled, it lost much of its grandeur with the exception of the lobby and staircase. Prior to it being tripled, there was moderate water damage over the years to the interior of the auditorium. Plitt never wanted to invest money into the repair of this damage. I have wanted to go see what condition the theatre is currently in, but part of me does not want to see what it is like now.
Interesting to read these latest messages. I lived a block away from the Nortown on Rosemont. I used to walk home for dinner when I was working there. I may have even been working while some of you were watching a movie. By the way, to the person who saw Star Wars in 1977, we had that movie for over 6 months. I was working as an usher at that time and had every line memorized. As I recall, for the first few weeks of the Star Wars run (it started in the summer of 1977), the daily matinee started at 12:00 noon with weekend midnight showings. It was one long day!
Great pictures! I have some photos that I took in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that I will have to dig out. Looking at these brought back many memories, including the summer that I spent painting the lobby walls when I was an usher. See the “Auditorium Entrance” image for the tan colored walls.