Cinema Annex

This theater opened in July of 1912, as the Kedzie Avenue Theater Annex, located on W. Madison Street at N. Kedzie Avenue in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. It was constructed next to the Kedzie Avenue Theater (later Kedzie Theater), a very popular vaudeville and motion picture house opened three years earlier. Unlike the Kedzie Avenue Theater, the Kedzie Avenue Theater Annex featured movies only. The theater was designed by architect Sidney Lovell, and could originally seat around 900, but was later reduced to 750.

In 1943 both the Kedzie Theater and Kedzie Theater Annex were acquired by Charles Lindau who also owned the Garfield Theater and Louis Theater. The Kendzie Theatre Annex was remodeled in 1946 and was reopened in 1947 as the Annex Theater, featuring Italian-language movies. It was renamed again in 1949, as the Cinema Annex. By the late-1950’s, it was screening sub-run films, the last films shown before closing in March of 1959 “The Bravados” and “The Story of Esther Costello”.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza Apartments were built on the site of the Cinema Annex and Kedzie Theater in 1972.

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