Michigan Theatre
110 E. Garfield Boulevard,
Chicago,
IL
60615
110 E. Garfield Boulevard,
Chicago,
IL
60615
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The Michigan theatre opened on December 27th, 1916 with “Civilization”. Grand opening ad posted.
1994 photo added, credit Simon Cygielski.
Michigan Theatre exterior, Chicago, Illinois, 1919
Here is a 1917 review of the theatre
Great marquee. What a waste to tear this theatre down and let it go into ruins. Whats new?
I just added the above photo of the Michigan that I took sometime in the mid 1970’s.
Great photo here: http://www.thebestmusicofyourlife.com/Remember-TheMichigan.jpg
The Michigan was open at least through early Oct. of 1967. However, it must have been struggling to get more people inside. From the Chicago Sun Times movie listings on Sunday, Oct. 1, 1967: MICHIGAN THEATRE 110 E. Garfield Ave. Tele. 546-9607. FREE POPCORN TO 1st 50 CHILDREN James Coburn in “IN LIKE FLINT” “RETURN OF THE SEVEN” “PREHISTORIC WOMEN”.
By the time it was demolished this building was a hulk. I photographed it in the late 80’s. You could climb through the boards on the front entrance into lobby. There was concession equipment (and other objects) scattered all over the tile floor of the lobby, which still had “Michigan” inscribed below the entrance. The fire doors had been bricked up, I guess to prevent gangs from entering. The theatre had an interesting attraction sign. Like the Loews Paradise in the Bronx, it did not extend out over the sidewalk. There was not a stage house. So, if the theatre did have live attractions, they were carried out on one of those small (non-working) stages. Strangely enough, there was one retail tenant left in the building: a beauty shop. The rest of the store fronts were abandoned. The offices above also seemed to be. I was once told that the Michigan closed in ‘69, which would mean that the theatre went unused for twenty-five years before it came down.