Colony Theater
3208 W. 59th Street,
Chicago,
IL
60629
3208 W. 59th Street,
Chicago,
IL
60629
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 67 of 67 comments
I grew up on 58th and Christiana, and would frequent the Colony when it was a flea market to buy hand buzzers or other practical joke items. I remember being impressed with the grandure of the place even as a child, as though I somehow knew the history of the place without really knowing. Now, all grown up and a self-proclaimed film buff, I’d LOVE to take part in any way in the restoration of the place. I’m a cameraman and doc film junkie, so if anyone wants to try to get the ball rolling, contact me at !!!!
I used to work the candy counter back in 1961 or 1962. There were 4 of us that worked the weekends and some nights. Think I made $.25 and hour, or something like that. Remember I worked 80 hours one week when either El Cid or West Side Story was showing there.
Gertie’s was run by a bunch of real nice Greek guys, and they were a lot of fun to talk to. Think there was a cigar store across the street. Rember that behind the screen were the old dressing rooms, and there were still a lot of the old clothes/costumes still stored back there. Don’t think the place was ever cleaned up. Nice old place when I think back on it. Don’t think they do much construction like that now. Had a friend that worked downtown at the Chicago theater. Now that was a fancy old theater!!!!
I went by the Colony today i saw some lights on by the windows behind the vertical sign i wonder if that means that the space is being used for something like an office . Also the Gerties Icecream is now an caminet store . Their still is an Gerties but it is not the same it it located on the Pulaski side of the Ford City Mall,
and the Lindi`s chillie is by Marquette Park and their is a combo up Archer ave near Archer and Nashville. Just thought that some one would like to know. That you for your time. :)
Gerties' and Lindi’s chilli & ice cream was the best.
An update to this theatre it is still standing but it is borded up and the ice cream parlor on the corner is now i think a pager and cell phone shop. But the theatre is borded up and the vertical sign is still in tacted bringing back all the memories of the past. thank you for you time.
Russell Phillips Photos:
Colony Auditorium
How bittersweet & nostalgic…What a BEAUTIFUL theater it was! Growing up in the 50’s & early 60’s on 59th & Pulaski, I have many great memories of the double bill movies especially on school night evenings and sneaking into the balcony which was almost always closed and evading the downstairs usher(yes, there were ushers on patrol then)and sitting in the very last row(vertigo!)with the World & Screen at my feet!..from Annette & Frankie Beach movies to “The Time Machine”,“The Birds”,“Gypsy”-Rosalind Russell/Natalie Wood,“Fall Of The House Of Usher”-Vincent Price etc..etc..and of course Gertie’s Ice Cream Shoppe on the corner with the great booths…:0(….those were the days my friends…(The Marquette Theater was great too, but not nearly as special as this movie “palace” known as the “COLONY”)
Here is a profile from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency’s HAARGIS system. It includes a small picture.
i’m writing a film about marquette park for my family. i’d love pics and /or videos of the colony, marquette, or anything from the 70’s. the old a&p on 63rd, anything. if anybody has stuff like that, please respond. i grew up there.
jim
I was there when it was a flea market. All main floor seats were removed. The auditorium is still slanted… and vendor tables were braced up on one side to level off the tops.
The stage still had a curtain and if I’m not mistaken.. there was also an Orchestra pit.
View link Here is the new link to the 1983 Russell Phillips photo of the auditorium.
Does anyone knows what’s the status of this place? I would love to be part of this place and convert it as a concert venue or small theatre place like the other old places here in Chicago. I grew up walking by this place so often and heck I still do since I still live in the area. In the early 90’s it becames a flea market kinda thing, but that only lasted for few months. I remember as a kid I was frighten with the smell and the old structure. Can anyone let me know about this place?
THe marquee light could always be seen from my house on 59th as a kid. The theater always hinted of its past grandure. the balcony was seldom open it seemes as a kid except for the annual christmass party where it was a full house. the exit door right next to the mens room also made sneaking a few buddies in very easy.it finally closed and was reopened as a concert hall but complaints soon shut that down. i remeber it had a brief opening as a flea market at one point as well . sadly it appears to be an empty shell as well with gerties abandoning its long standing original location as well.
The Colony operated briefly in the late 70s/early 80s as a road house for rock concerts. The neighbors complained about the noise and the city went into harassment mode and shut them down. It remained vacant until about ‘88 when a Christian ministry tried to revive it with weekly vaudeville-type shows that had a low-pressure religious message. The neighbors didn’t complain, but they didn’t support it either. It failed in less than 6 months. By 1998, it had been gutted and was being used as a warehouse by a property managment company. No idea as to current status.
From Russell Phillips' Galleries:
Colony Theater Auditorium, Early 1980s
Wow, does the Colony bring back memories. When an earler generation spoke of how going to the movies was something special and the theatres were designed to reflect that, I too can relate from my experiences as a kid at the Colony, since I’m just old enough to remember some of its hey-day. Being a kid, it was the fanciest place I had ever seen with the rennaissance architecture, and its broad balcony. It seemed huge as a kid, but most thing did at that age, but I actually grew up with the colony during the 50’s through the dollar movies in the late 60s and 70’s, thus I grew to understand its size and the uniqueness of its style. During this period I saw the decline from a fairly well maintained family theatre in the 50’s to its dingy condition in its later years. I hope somone can do something with the theater…. it would be a shame to see a sample of the past like this go.
Back in 1983, this really nice guy, I forgot his name, owned a consruction company. And as a gift for his wife, he bought, then remodeled the theatre into a great concert hall. He gave my Dad and I a great tour, but didn’t run much in it. I think it closed after that, but the job he did was outstanding.