Actually, the demise of the Cinema came about because the owners of the property, a large real estate firm HQ in Toronto, Canada decided to sell the land to the developers and builder of a luxury retail and condo building on this L shaped land. One retail renter is Nieman Marcus on the Michigan Avenue side of the L. The Chicago Avenue side has the luxury condos.
The Water Tower Theatres, which opened in 1979, were not in direct competition with the Cinema Theatre as they generally showed Hollywood first run movies. The Cimema showed so called “Art” films as well as foreign films.
Days before the Cinema was torn down, I managed to save the Marquee along with a few Art Deco lamps. – it’s a long story, folks.
Anyway, in the late 1980’s, the Chicago Historical Society asked if I would donate the Cinema Marquee to them. Needless to say, I was honored and thrilled to do so. You can now see the Marquee in the new lobby and entrance area of the now renamed Chicago History Museum.
I was going to post a picture of the marquee but this program is currently unavailable on Cinema Treasures. C'est la vive.
I intentionally booked Louie Malle’s “Atlantic City” as the final film for the Cinema Theatre because of the urban destruction/development theme, and because the final scene is of a wrecking ball tearing down a beautiful older building.
I think I may have a photo of the Cinema marquee on the last day. I’ll post it, of course.
And there’s a very long story as to how the Chicago Historical ended up with my Cinema Theatre marquee, but they do have it. I donated it with great pleasure to the CHS. It’s currently on display in one of their exhibits.
Actually, the demise of the Cinema came about because the owners of the property, a large real estate firm HQ in Toronto, Canada decided to sell the land to the developers and builder of a luxury retail and condo building on this L shaped land. One retail renter is Nieman Marcus on the Michigan Avenue side of the L. The Chicago Avenue side has the luxury condos.
The Water Tower Theatres, which opened in 1979, were not in direct competition with the Cinema Theatre as they generally showed Hollywood first run movies. The Cimema showed so called “Art” films as well as foreign films.
Days before the Cinema was torn down, I managed to save the Marquee along with a few Art Deco lamps. – it’s a long story, folks.
Anyway, in the late 1980’s, the Chicago Historical Society asked if I would donate the Cinema Marquee to them. Needless to say, I was honored and thrilled to do so. You can now see the Marquee in the new lobby and entrance area of the now renamed Chicago History Museum.
I was going to post a picture of the marquee but this program is currently unavailable on Cinema Treasures. C'est la vive.
Thanks Bryon for letting me know where the Cinema marquee is. I must visit it in the “new” museum.
I intentionally booked Louie Malle’s “Atlantic City” as the final film for the Cinema Theatre because of the urban destruction/development theme, and because the final scene is of a wrecking ball tearing down a beautiful older building.
I think I may have a photo of the Cinema marquee on the last day. I’ll post it, of course.
And there’s a very long story as to how the Chicago Historical ended up with my Cinema Theatre marquee, but they do have it. I donated it with great pleasure to the CHS. It’s currently on display in one of their exhibits.