I will post that on the Uptown site later. The Uptown’s building is bigger than Radio City, it’s just that Radio City had a few more seats (cheating it’s title of largest, sort of like the things with skyscrapers as to why some tops count in height and some don’t). I do agree it’s a beautiful theatre. The Uptown, demo would make even the Paradise demo pale in comparison, not to ramble (I could) but to give you an idea, where in some theatres the standard is metal catwalks, the uptown has many that are poured concrete sidewalks. Old man Balaban wanted to impress his friends, and I’m sure his personal tours of the place must have been quite a good time.
I have been to the Bronx Leows Paradise (I have relatives in Woodhaven) and I agree they did a nice job. It’s worth the tour (which I took and recomend) as you get places you don’t during an event unless you’re working the show. And yes it’s like the Congress, or United Center in Chicago, during a scheduled event there are enough people and security around that it is safe.
Since the Uptown is being discussed here I thought I’d add a few comments. First, there is a photographer who I believe still lives in the neighborhood named Lori Robare who took some great pictures of the Uptown. Second the Metra north line stops at Lawrence and Ravenswood just a few blocks west of the Uptown, the ‘L’ as mentioned is a half block east. The parking structure just west of the ‘L’ was torn down because some violent crimes happened there, rather than make it more secure the turned it into a street lot that cops driving by could see all of. A new deck with cameras and security features could be built on the site. What I haven’t seen posted is the fact that at one point the Uptown was almost torn down for a high-rise (due to it’s large footprint) but when National Wrecking came in and saw how it was constructed the bid was so high that the developer just purchased another property (a bowling alley 4 blocks south) and built his high rise there. If you go by the Boardwalk at Broadway and Montrose you can see what Broadway and Lawrence would have been like if the Uptown was constructed like an ordinary movie palace. When the Uptown was built as the big sister to the Riviera one block south. Balaban (of Balaban & Katz) lived nearby on Castlewood Terrace. Katz lived in Englewood and had the Englewood Theatre ( way cool, but now torn down and replaced by a strip mall) built for him and his neighbors. Balaban had the uptown built and spared no expense to make it the best movie palace in America. Radio City is a few seats larger, but not as nice. I’ve been in over 100 movie palaces, thru the catwalks and guts, and have never seen anything like it. The amount of concrete and steel in it would safely construct a building thrice its size. It even has two secret stairwells in it. When it was built it also had a radio studio in it (WEBH) that fed into National broadcasts.
Part of the problems it has is it’s position on the border of the 46th and 48th wards, and there is a lot of politics involved. I personally know of someone who was prepared to renovate it about 18 years ago, but could not get the approval of the politicians involved because he didn’t donate to the right things and didn’t want to add to his payroll people who knew nothing about theatres except that if you’re involved in the renovation you can pull prime tickets for approved friends of the powers that be, along with collecting a check at the salary your sponsor though appropriate, but hey the last election all three of one of those alderman’s opponents got tossed off the ballot before election day.
So in summary, thanks to the solid construction of the Uptown it is unlikely it will be torn down. Renovation however will depend on whether the renovators can wait for a good political climate, or whether it finally becomes profitable enough that the ‘extra costs don’t sink the project.
Don’t know why I didn’t find this site before. I grew up between the Granada and Uptown Theatres by St. Ita’s. I also remember the Riviera, the Aragon, the Howard, the Nortown, the Gateway, as well as all of the downtown theatres. I’ve used up my computer time reading all of the other comments and will come back soon to post some other stories but I want to make two comments right now. First I’m wondering how many people were aware, since I didn’t see any comments about it so far, that there was a rehearsal stage on the top level that had more room than most cineabox movie screens around today. This space was not open to the public, but it was a great space. Anyone else have some memories of this ? Secondly, I was wondering if anybody else took what I thought was my ‘coolest’ photo during the demolition. I spent many nights wandering through the Granada after it was closed. I never took anything because I was waiting for it to reopen and even stopped some from vandalizing the place. Then in one fell swoop right before demo began they stripped it out almost overnight. When that was being done was the only time there was ever security there. Back to the photo, I kept going in there as it was being torn down, sort of like visiting an old friend in hospice. They first wall they ripped down was the north wall behind the stage. One night I was there with my Polaroid (God do I wish they had digital cameras back then) and sitting in the balcony with some beers we got from Bruno’s we watched the show. With just the back wall ripped out but with the proscenium left untouched you could watch the ‘L’ go by like it was a stage show. I had just one picture left from my 10 pack of film (which I had put in to take some photos at a party I was at earlier). I waited for the right moment and took my picture. It was two ‘L’ trains crossing in opposite directions as seen through the magnificent proscenium as if it was a stage show. If anyone else has a photo like that please let me know. More next time I stop by this page. WorldwideBob
Geo,
I will post that on the Uptown site later. The Uptown’s building is bigger than Radio City, it’s just that Radio City had a few more seats (cheating it’s title of largest, sort of like the things with skyscrapers as to why some tops count in height and some don’t). I do agree it’s a beautiful theatre. The Uptown, demo would make even the Paradise demo pale in comparison, not to ramble (I could) but to give you an idea, where in some theatres the standard is metal catwalks, the uptown has many that are poured concrete sidewalks. Old man Balaban wanted to impress his friends, and I’m sure his personal tours of the place must have been quite a good time.
I have been to the Bronx Leows Paradise (I have relatives in Woodhaven) and I agree they did a nice job. It’s worth the tour (which I took and recomend) as you get places you don’t during an event unless you’re working the show. And yes it’s like the Congress, or United Center in Chicago, during a scheduled event there are enough people and security around that it is safe.
Hi,
Since the Uptown is being discussed here I thought I’d add a few comments. First, there is a photographer who I believe still lives in the neighborhood named Lori Robare who took some great pictures of the Uptown. Second the Metra north line stops at Lawrence and Ravenswood just a few blocks west of the Uptown, the ‘L’ as mentioned is a half block east. The parking structure just west of the ‘L’ was torn down because some violent crimes happened there, rather than make it more secure the turned it into a street lot that cops driving by could see all of. A new deck with cameras and security features could be built on the site. What I haven’t seen posted is the fact that at one point the Uptown was almost torn down for a high-rise (due to it’s large footprint) but when National Wrecking came in and saw how it was constructed the bid was so high that the developer just purchased another property (a bowling alley 4 blocks south) and built his high rise there. If you go by the Boardwalk at Broadway and Montrose you can see what Broadway and Lawrence would have been like if the Uptown was constructed like an ordinary movie palace. When the Uptown was built as the big sister to the Riviera one block south. Balaban (of Balaban & Katz) lived nearby on Castlewood Terrace. Katz lived in Englewood and had the Englewood Theatre ( way cool, but now torn down and replaced by a strip mall) built for him and his neighbors. Balaban had the uptown built and spared no expense to make it the best movie palace in America. Radio City is a few seats larger, but not as nice. I’ve been in over 100 movie palaces, thru the catwalks and guts, and have never seen anything like it. The amount of concrete and steel in it would safely construct a building thrice its size. It even has two secret stairwells in it. When it was built it also had a radio studio in it (WEBH) that fed into National broadcasts.
Part of the problems it has is it’s position on the border of the 46th and 48th wards, and there is a lot of politics involved. I personally know of someone who was prepared to renovate it about 18 years ago, but could not get the approval of the politicians involved because he didn’t donate to the right things and didn’t want to add to his payroll people who knew nothing about theatres except that if you’re involved in the renovation you can pull prime tickets for approved friends of the powers that be, along with collecting a check at the salary your sponsor though appropriate, but hey the last election all three of one of those alderman’s opponents got tossed off the ballot before election day.
So in summary, thanks to the solid construction of the Uptown it is unlikely it will be torn down. Renovation however will depend on whether the renovators can wait for a good political climate, or whether it finally becomes profitable enough that the ‘extra costs don’t sink the project.
More next time, Worldwide Bob.
Don’t know why I didn’t find this site before. I grew up between the Granada and Uptown Theatres by St. Ita’s. I also remember the Riviera, the Aragon, the Howard, the Nortown, the Gateway, as well as all of the downtown theatres. I’ve used up my computer time reading all of the other comments and will come back soon to post some other stories but I want to make two comments right now. First I’m wondering how many people were aware, since I didn’t see any comments about it so far, that there was a rehearsal stage on the top level that had more room than most cineabox movie screens around today. This space was not open to the public, but it was a great space. Anyone else have some memories of this ? Secondly, I was wondering if anybody else took what I thought was my ‘coolest’ photo during the demolition. I spent many nights wandering through the Granada after it was closed. I never took anything because I was waiting for it to reopen and even stopped some from vandalizing the place. Then in one fell swoop right before demo began they stripped it out almost overnight. When that was being done was the only time there was ever security there. Back to the photo, I kept going in there as it was being torn down, sort of like visiting an old friend in hospice. They first wall they ripped down was the north wall behind the stage. One night I was there with my Polaroid (God do I wish they had digital cameras back then) and sitting in the balcony with some beers we got from Bruno’s we watched the show. With just the back wall ripped out but with the proscenium left untouched you could watch the ‘L’ go by like it was a stage show. I had just one picture left from my 10 pack of film (which I had put in to take some photos at a party I was at earlier). I waited for the right moment and took my picture. It was two ‘L’ trains crossing in opposite directions as seen through the magnificent proscenium as if it was a stage show. If anyone else has a photo like that please let me know. More next time I stop by this page. WorldwideBob