Mars Theatre
2556 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60647
2556 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60647
3 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Lubliner & Trinz
Architects: Horatio R. Wilson
Previous Names: Logan Square Theatre, Rio Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Logan Square Theatre, named for the northwestern Chicago neighborhood it was situated in, opened in 1913. It was originally a vaudeville house, but was soon acquired by the Lubliner & Trinz circuit and converted into a movie theatre. It could seat almost 1,320. The theatre was renamed the Rio Theatre in 1934, and renamed the Mars Theatre October 7, 1949.
The Logan Square Theatre was different from another Logan Square neighborhood movie house, the Logan Theatre, which is still open and operating as a quad, and originally was called the Paramount Theatre.
The Mars Theatre was demolished in 1968. Today, most of the site of the theatre is occupied by the parking lot of the nearby Mega Mall shopping center. A portion of the theatre property is also now the Blue Line “El” tracks, specifically where the tracks start to go underground at Milwaukee Avenue.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Finally a photo and a name ! ! ! !
The Logan Square Theatre can be seen on the front page and it is also the photo of the month of October in the NEW / C.T.A. calendar.
http://tinyurl.com/2fyqpga
The Auditorium stood were the incline to the subway is now. Obviously an OLD photo as the side sign is still advertising Vaudeville. You can see it was no SMALL theatre! My Guess is the east end of the building was flush against the remaining buildings.
You can also see it in the background here of photos logansquare07 and crt223 .
http://tinyurl.com/29z948d
rso1000
I was wondering which Logan theatre that October photo referred to. Then I realized that the old Logan Square ‘L’ terminated to the southeast of the present, surviving Logan Theatre.
Fourth photo down. What is this?
http://radiotimeline.com/am89wls.htm
Undated photo as the Logan Square Theatre added, courtesy of the Logan Square Preservation Facebook page. They listed the address as 2556 N. Milwaukee Ave., not 2542. Anyone have an official address source?
Here is another. Gives architect as Horatio Wilson, who also designed the Harper Theater.
the 2556 address street number to me makes much more sense (than 2542), from remembering the Mars in the mid-‘60s
The October 7th, 1949 grand opening ad as Mars can be found in the photo section.
Demolition photo added credit Dennis Popiela. Description copy credit Logan Square Preservation Facebook page.
View through the front arched window of the Mars Theater (originally the Logan Square Theatre) on Milwaukee south of the Square under demolition during the Blue Line extension in 1968-1969. It’s site was most recently used as a parking lot for the Discount Mega Mall. The building visible at the left across the street is current the home of Sparrow.
Old newspaper ads show the address as 2540 Milwaukee. But newspapers are known to have made mistakes.
BURGLARS AS ACTORS; ‘AUDIENCE’ IS VICTIM - Logan Square Theater Safe Is Robbed of $500 While Watchman Looks On, Believing “Show” a Rehearsal.
Five burglars staged a hold-up and safe robbery in the Logan Square theater, 2542 Milwaukee avenue, owned by John R. Thompson, early Sunday morning. The audience consisted of one man, Jackson Le Maire, night watchman. The audience was entertained - also robbed.
While making his rounds, Le Maire let himself in at the front door of the theater. He found the stage bright in the glare of the footlights. He noticed five men moving about on the stage. Three of them wore masks. “These actors are going to pull some Western stuff, I guess,” said the night watchman. The “rehearsal” progressed rapidly. The “actors” went through their parts as if they were letter perfect. Le Maire caught the drift of the “lines” from time to time. “I thought the safe was in the wings,” said one “actor,” who looked like Edwin Booth. “It’ll take me about two minutes to blow her wide open,” said another “artist” up stage, in a melodramatic whisper. ‘The soup’s all right tonight, kid, belleve me,“ said a third, whom Le Maire took to be the low comedian of the sketch. "There’s an old property safe in the right wing” mumbled Le Maire. “I don’t suppose they know where it is and I’ll go back and show them. Their little drama won’t be complete without it.” He strolled down the central aisle and mounted to the stage. “You’ve got a great sketch, boys,” he said genially. “I guess you need a safe for local color. I’ll show you where it is.” His kindly criticism was rudely interrupted. One of the “actors” - undoubtedly the heavy villain - caught him a clip under the chin which knocked him down. Before he recovered, the entire troupe of “Thespians” and tied him, hand and foot, with rope. Incidentally. they rifled his pockets of seventy-five cents.Then they found the safe - not the property one, but the real one - and blew it open with a charge of nitroglycerin. They secured $500 and escaped. Two hours later Le Maire wriggled from his bonds and reported the robbery to the Shakespeare Avenue police. “I don’t mind my loss of seventy-five cents.” said Le Maire. “The performance was worth it. Those fellows are artists. They ought to land on the big time. I only hope I’m the lucky man to 'book’ them.” (April 27, 1914)