Does anyone have any information on when the auditorium was remodeled to make for a larger proscenium? There is such a disconnect from the historic photo and the current photos. The National Register nomination for the theater just has a footnote that sometime in the 1920s the front of the house was drastically altered.
The Construction News – Volume 35 – 1913 (Google Books)
lists C.W. and George Rapp as architects for a moving picture theatre at 320 S. Halsted Street.
This is most likely a Rapp & Rapp design from 1914. The Rapp & Rapp collection at the Chicago History Museum has a listing for materials related to a theatre design for S. D. Stoll and I. & L. D. Smith at the corner of Michigan and 111th St. in 1914. The façade of the Parkway (especially the arch) are a copy of the Windsor Theatre design that the Rapps did the same year.
Upon comparing the historic interior photo with photos and videos of the church that is currently in the building, I have noticed that they don’t match. Clearly the historic photo has a “CP” on the valance of the proscenium opening so I take it that is for Central Park. Photos of the proscenium in the church don’t match nor does the ceiling. Can anyone help?
Does anyone have any information on when the auditorium was remodeled to make for a larger proscenium? There is such a disconnect from the historic photo and the current photos. The National Register nomination for the theater just has a footnote that sometime in the 1920s the front of the house was drastically altered.
The Construction News – Volume 35 – 1913 (Google Books) lists C.W. and George Rapp as architects for a moving picture theatre at 320 S. Halsted Street.
Where did you get the picture?
Thank you for posting this picture! It helps plot the evolution of Rapp and Rapp’s early theatre facades.
This is most likely a Rapp & Rapp design from 1914. The Rapp & Rapp collection at the Chicago History Museum has a listing for materials related to a theatre design for S. D. Stoll and I. & L. D. Smith at the corner of Michigan and 111th St. in 1914. The façade of the Parkway (especially the arch) are a copy of the Windsor Theatre design that the Rapps did the same year.
Upon comparing the historic interior photo with photos and videos of the church that is currently in the building, I have noticed that they don’t match. Clearly the historic photo has a “CP” on the valance of the proscenium opening so I take it that is for Central Park. Photos of the proscenium in the church don’t match nor does the ceiling. Can anyone help?
I believe the original Majestic was designed by Rapp and Rapp. Does anyone have any information on this?