Parkway Theatre
2738 N. Clark Street,
Chicago,
IL
60614
2738 N. Clark Street,
Chicago,
IL
60614
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 41 of 41 comments
My brother and I would go to the Parkway Theater, Covent or the Century, as kids in the ‘50’s. We lived on Fullerton Pkwy. and we had access to the Biograph and the Crest, going the other direction.
It was wonderful having so many theaters, from which to choose.
I remember winning a doll, at the weekly give away, at the Parkway.
My brother also won a chalk board. I believe we paid a quarter for a double feature. Oh, the memories!
Sanborn fire insurance maps show a seating of 800 with a horseshoe-type balcony. Interestingly, dressing rooms were provided in a narrow structure adjacent to the stage.
I know that they added more to the marquee in order to list the days attractions. It was an operating grind house just prior to Landmark’s purchase. They spruced up the marquee, painted the lobby, added neon to the lobby and kept the auditorium the same lovely dump it always was. Best thing was a small hole in the manager’s office that allowed you to watch the movie while chowing down on a burger from next door’s Super Bowl Grill.
Very cool! Did they take the balustrade along the top down during the “restoration”? What did their work consist of?
Try this:
View link
I managed the place when Ladmark took it over in 1980. Here’s a photo from 1979 just before Landmark “restored” it.
View link
Russell Phillips Photos:
Lobby
Here’s a bit more on the yoga studio – “Mike and John are hopeful that their second studio, located in Lincoln Park, will open during the first quarter of this year. The new studio will occupy the second floor of the old Parkway Theatre on Clark Street at Diversey Avenue. The Parkway was built in the early 20th century as a vaudeville stage and later became popular as a movie theatre for classic, foreign and independently produced films. The partners are committed to restoring as much of the original building as possible. The studio features old oak floors, Ionic columns and a 20-foot ceiling with elaborate decorative plaster work. A dropped greenhouse roof will capture natural light while protecting the original plaster details from the heat and humidity. The new studio also will have a locker room and showers.” – http://www.yogachicago.com/jan04/bikram.shtml
Also this page features a Photo of the space.
The balcony space has been converted to a Bikram Yoga studio. Some of the decor remains intact, although it looks like substantial renovation was necessary. Their website is www.bycic.com but does not mention the theater.
And the corrected link to the old lobby photo above is here
Correction: I wasn’t at the Parkway in the late ‘80s. I think it was closed or remodeled for an eyewear store. It was the early '80s that featured a new double feature daily usually with a theme or genre.
The Parkway was a great place to show old movies – revivals or foreign films – in the late ‘80s. I recall Diva (a French film) and Hepburn/Grant’s Bringing Up Baby. And I got to see all of Marilyn Monroe’s films there.
October 28, 1984 to be exact
I think that Landmark Century complex opened in the 90’s. The Parkway went under in the 80’s. I’ve heard the entire ceiling of the Parkway still exists.
I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the Parkway closed when Landmark opened the Century Centre, but i’m not certain.
From Russell Phillips' Galleries:
Parkway Lobby, 1985
The Parkway opened in the late teens, and was a popular neighborhood house between the Covent to the south and the Century (formerly the Diversey) to its' north. It hit its' peak in the late 70’s/early 80’s when it was part of the Landmark theater chain, with classic film programming. It also had a strange stroke of “luck”, when it just so happened to been playing a Hitchcock film as part of the scheduled series of films in their regular program, when the Master of Suspense died. talk about your timing. When video and cable TV came in a big way, the theater closed, but the building still stands, its' main floor gutted by a Lens Crafters. I believe the balcony, small as it was, is still intact, just gathering dust, sealed shut these many years
Although I do not know very much history in regards to the early years of the Parkway, in its last years it was primarily a place to see classic films. It also had the shortest lobby of any theatre in Chicago…less then 6 feet deep! It has since been converted into retail space, shoe store I am pretty sure.