Film Daily in June 1926 reported that the Drake Theatre, located at Montrose and Drake avenues, would be finished in August 1926. The Drake is not shown in FDYB 1926, covering 1925. FDYB 1927, covering 1926, lists the Drake under Ascher Brothers. In January 1927 Film Daily noted that Ambassador Theaters Corp. had taken over the 20-year lease of the Drake, “one of the larger outlying theaters,” from Drake Amusement Company for a gross rental of $580,000. (Note the “Ambassador’s Corp.” atop the Drake’s vertical in Lou Rugani’s undated photo.) Consistent with the foregoing, the Drake is not listed under Ascher in FDYB 1928. Ambassador Theaters Corp. also operated the Ambassador Theatre (aka Rockne) on Division Street. By September 1928 Ambassador Theaters was in the hands of a receiver, joining three Chicago chains with a string of over 40 Chicago-area houses that ended up being operated under a receivership by the Chicago Title & Trust Company.
FDYB 1926, covering 1925, lists the Ambassador Theatre under Ascher Brothers. In 1926 the Ambassador was hived off to the Ambassador Theaters Corp. As such, the Ambassador was no longer listed under Ascher in FDYB 1927, covering 1926. In January 1927 Film Daily noted that Ambassador Theaters Corp. had taken over the 20-year lease of the Drake, “one of the larger outlying theaters,” from Drake Amusement Company. By September 1928 Ambassador Theaters was in the hands of a receiver, joining three Chicago chains with a string of over 40 Chicago-area houses that ended up being operated under a receivership by the Chicago Title & Trust Company.
In October 1928 Peter Kalleres’s Grand Amusement Company took over the Grand, which had been in the hands of receivers since August when the Gregory-Bernasek circuit was thrown into receivership. Jim Bikos operated the theater after Grand Amusement. In December 1929 the Grand was equipped for sound and City Amusement Company was incorporated by Kalleres, George Anthoulis and Ernest Force. City Amusement acquired the Grand in February 1930 from Jim Bikos.
In August 1925, three months before the sprawling John Eberson-designed Palace would open across the street, hundreds attended the reopening of the remodeled Grand. In November 1926 Peter Kalleres offered Mary Paine $355,000 for the Paine Building. In January 1927 the Grand joined the Illinois and Indiana Theaters booking circuit, formerly Earl Johnson Theaters.
The Grand and nearby Cosmo merged under one management in September 1922 when Cosmo owner Nick Bikos sold the theater to Kalleres’s Grand Theatre Company. The two theaters were redecorated and managed by Kalleres. In January 1923 the S.J. Gregory Amusement Company was operating the Grand and Cosmo in Gary and the Parthenon in Hammond.
The Hammond Times reported in September 1912 that Gary’s new $100,000 five-story theater (it wasn’t yet named) would “be of the same size as to seating capacity and of the same general interior design as the Illinois and Blackstone theaters in Chicago … and will be devoted to the legitimate drama.” The first floor included storefronts, with offices in the front parts of the second, third, fourth and fifth floors. The stage was 38 feet wide and 38 feet deep. “Height from the floor pit to the gallery ceiling will measure the five stories. Besides elegant boxes there will be a balcony and a gallery.”
Northern Indiana Investment Company leased the Gary to a series of different operators during the first chapter of the theater’s forty-year life. Three were noteworthy: In September 1923 V.U. Young and C.J. Wolf, who together owned several inter-related companies that in turn owned and/or operated theaters, took over the Gary, remodeled it and reopened. Five years later J&B Theatre Company was formed to operate the Gary. Brothers Jack and Ben Cooney, hence the J and the B, had run the bankrupt National Playhouse circuit. The Cooneys wired the Gary for sound in November 1928 but closed the theater in February 1929 after their all-picture comeback attempt failed. Indiana-Ohio Theaters Corp., a Paramount-Publix subsidiary, then added the Gary to its local cluster exiting in August 1930. Stability came in March 1934 when the Gary was transferred to Young and Wolf, now operating as Theatrical Managers, Inc. Companies associated with Young and Wolf operated the Gary until it closed in 1953. During those years the Gary was a first-run “B” house playing pictures that weren’t big enough for the affiliated Palace, a nearby “A” house. Together the Gary and Palace booked films from Columbia, RKO, Twentieth Century-Fox and Universal.
The street number for the first Broadway Theatre might be 764, not 760. The 1908 Sanborn shows a 5-cent theatre at 764 Broadway, not 760. The 1911 Sanborn also shows a theater at 764, not 760.
The theater was located at the southeast corner of Eighth and Washington. The stage abutted Washington Street. The public entrance was at 21 W. 8th Avenue.
The Indiana was carved out of the former Central Trust and Savings Bank building, which was appraised for $125,000 in 1930. The Bikos brothers bought it in October 1936 for $18,000 and back taxes of $15,000. Their outlay of $133,000 yielded a fully functioning 1000-seat movie house.
V.U. Young, Y&W Management Corp. president, announced plans to build the Ridge in 1941. In 1968 Y&W did a complete $50,000 renovation of the Ridge and reopened it as the Glen. Vern Young, Y&W president in 1968 and V.U. Young’s grandson, presided over the grand opening alongside the Glen’s architect and Ray Howard, Y&W district manager. In the remodel the auditorium received 602 new blue seats laid out in a 7-14-7 configuration. The lower sidewalls were covered in matching blue fabric. Pleated gold drapery covered the upper sidewalls and screen. The lobby, restrooms and box office were also updated. The building’s front was redone with brick topped by tall, charcoal gray vertical siding. The marquee was trimmed in brushed aluminum and the vertical was redecorated. The Glen offered an 8 P.M. show each week night and two shows on weekends. Children had to be accompanied by an adult guardian. The Glen was very popular and might have survived longer had it not been for General Cinema. In 1972 and 1973 GC opened six screens nearby: two west on Ridge Road, two south on Broadway and two in Miller.
When the Gary closed in 1953 operator Y&W stored the unused Gary Theatre ticket stock at their nearby Palace Theatre. In its waning years as a first-run house the Palace box office dispensed tickets from the Gary and from the closed Y&W Lyric in Sullivan, IN.
After the Lyric closed operator Y&W moved the surplus ticket stock to Gary, IN. When the Y&W Palace in Gary ran out of tickets in its waning days patrons received Lyric Theatre tickets.
Film Daily in June 1926 reported that the Drake Theatre, located at Montrose and Drake avenues, would be finished in August 1926. The Drake is not shown in FDYB 1926, covering 1925. FDYB 1927, covering 1926, lists the Drake under Ascher Brothers. In January 1927 Film Daily noted that Ambassador Theaters Corp. had taken over the 20-year lease of the Drake, “one of the larger outlying theaters,” from Drake Amusement Company for a gross rental of $580,000. (Note the “Ambassador’s Corp.” atop the Drake’s vertical in Lou Rugani’s undated photo.) Consistent with the foregoing, the Drake is not listed under Ascher in FDYB 1928. Ambassador Theaters Corp. also operated the Ambassador Theatre (aka Rockne) on Division Street. By September 1928 Ambassador Theaters was in the hands of a receiver, joining three Chicago chains with a string of over 40 Chicago-area houses that ended up being operated under a receivership by the Chicago Title & Trust Company.
FDYB 1926, covering 1925, lists the Ambassador Theatre under Ascher Brothers. In 1926 the Ambassador was hived off to the Ambassador Theaters Corp. As such, the Ambassador was no longer listed under Ascher in FDYB 1927, covering 1926. In January 1927 Film Daily noted that Ambassador Theaters Corp. had taken over the 20-year lease of the Drake, “one of the larger outlying theaters,” from Drake Amusement Company. By September 1928 Ambassador Theaters was in the hands of a receiver, joining three Chicago chains with a string of over 40 Chicago-area houses that ended up being operated under a receivership by the Chicago Title & Trust Company.
In October 1928 Peter Kalleres’s Grand Amusement Company took over the Grand, which had been in the hands of receivers since August when the Gregory-Bernasek circuit was thrown into receivership. Jim Bikos operated the theater after Grand Amusement. In December 1929 the Grand was equipped for sound and City Amusement Company was incorporated by Kalleres, George Anthoulis and Ernest Force. City Amusement acquired the Grand in February 1930 from Jim Bikos.
In August 1925, three months before the sprawling John Eberson-designed Palace would open across the street, hundreds attended the reopening of the remodeled Grand. In November 1926 Peter Kalleres offered Mary Paine $355,000 for the Paine Building. In January 1927 the Grand joined the Illinois and Indiana Theaters booking circuit, formerly Earl Johnson Theaters.
The Grand and nearby Cosmo merged under one management in September 1922 when Cosmo owner Nick Bikos sold the theater to Kalleres’s Grand Theatre Company. The two theaters were redecorated and managed by Kalleres. In January 1923 the S.J. Gregory Amusement Company was operating the Grand and Cosmo in Gary and the Parthenon in Hammond.
The Paine Building housed the Grand Theater. Sanborn Maps shows a stage present in 1915 - and a drug store in the front left corner.
Before it was the Paris Theater this was the Rex.
The Hammond Times reported in September 1912 that Gary’s new $100,000 five-story theater (it wasn’t yet named) would “be of the same size as to seating capacity and of the same general interior design as the Illinois and Blackstone theaters in Chicago … and will be devoted to the legitimate drama.” The first floor included storefronts, with offices in the front parts of the second, third, fourth and fifth floors. The stage was 38 feet wide and 38 feet deep. “Height from the floor pit to the gallery ceiling will measure the five stories. Besides elegant boxes there will be a balcony and a gallery.”
Northern Indiana Investment Company leased the Gary to a series of different operators during the first chapter of the theater’s forty-year life. Three were noteworthy: In September 1923 V.U. Young and C.J. Wolf, who together owned several inter-related companies that in turn owned and/or operated theaters, took over the Gary, remodeled it and reopened. Five years later J&B Theatre Company was formed to operate the Gary. Brothers Jack and Ben Cooney, hence the J and the B, had run the bankrupt National Playhouse circuit. The Cooneys wired the Gary for sound in November 1928 but closed the theater in February 1929 after their all-picture comeback attempt failed. Indiana-Ohio Theaters Corp., a Paramount-Publix subsidiary, then added the Gary to its local cluster exiting in August 1930. Stability came in March 1934 when the Gary was transferred to Young and Wolf, now operating as Theatrical Managers, Inc. Companies associated with Young and Wolf operated the Gary until it closed in 1953. During those years the Gary was a first-run “B” house playing pictures that weren’t big enough for the affiliated Palace, a nearby “A” house. Together the Gary and Palace booked films from Columbia, RKO, Twentieth Century-Fox and Universal.
The street number for the first Broadway Theatre might be 764, not 760. The 1908 Sanborn shows a 5-cent theatre at 764 Broadway, not 760. The 1911 Sanborn also shows a theater at 764, not 760.
Address was 1132 Broadway, which is the northwest corner of 12th and Broadway. Seating capacity: 586.
Address may have been 1629 Broadway as shown in 1915 Sanborn.
The theater appears in a 1915 Sanborn map, seating 456. Address shows as 1236 Broadway.
The entrance was at 23 East 6th Avenue. Seating capacity: 500.
The theater was located at the southeast corner of Eighth and Washington. The stage abutted Washington Street. The public entrance was at 21 W. 8th Avenue.
The Indiana was carved out of the former Central Trust and Savings Bank building, which was appraised for $125,000 in 1930. The Bikos brothers bought it in October 1936 for $18,000 and back taxes of $15,000. Their outlay of $133,000 yielded a fully functioning 1000-seat movie house.
By June 1928 Western Electric sound was installed at the Roosevelt.
Central predecessor Ritz Theatre had a Kilgen organ in 1927.
Lake predecessor Family Theatre had a Morton organ in 1928.
In early 1922 Walter Eschenbach re-opened the 300-seat Art. It was managed by Charles Mazzone.
V.U. Young, Y&W Management Corp. president, announced plans to build the Ridge in 1941. In 1968 Y&W did a complete $50,000 renovation of the Ridge and reopened it as the Glen. Vern Young, Y&W president in 1968 and V.U. Young’s grandson, presided over the grand opening alongside the Glen’s architect and Ray Howard, Y&W district manager. In the remodel the auditorium received 602 new blue seats laid out in a 7-14-7 configuration. The lower sidewalls were covered in matching blue fabric. Pleated gold drapery covered the upper sidewalls and screen. The lobby, restrooms and box office were also updated. The building’s front was redone with brick topped by tall, charcoal gray vertical siding. The marquee was trimmed in brushed aluminum and the vertical was redecorated. The Glen offered an 8 P.M. show each week night and two shows on weekends. Children had to be accompanied by an adult guardian. The Glen was very popular and might have survived longer had it not been for General Cinema. In 1972 and 1973 GC opened six screens nearby: two west on Ridge Road, two south on Broadway and two in Miller.
When the Gary closed in 1953 operator Y&W stored the unused Gary Theatre ticket stock at their nearby Palace Theatre. In its waning years as a first-run house the Palace box office dispensed tickets from the Gary and from the closed Y&W Lyric in Sullivan, IN.
!n January 1927 architect M.S. Bittner of East Chicago was designing a 55-foot by 125-foot $55,000 theater in Tolleston for A. Rudzinski.
In its late years the Eagle was operated by Bikos Brothers.
After the Lyric closed operator Y&W moved the surplus ticket stock to Gary, IN. When the Y&W Palace in Gary ran out of tickets in its waning days patrons received Lyric Theatre tickets.