Alamo Theatre
3639 W. Chicago Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60651
3639 W. Chicago Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60651
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 34 comments
There’s no supermarket there, though there is a possibly newer building that has very similar characteristics.
I rem. the Famous theater it was kind of dirty compared to the Alamo. My older bro. got the organ pipes when it was shut down. Yes I do rem. The Patrone post also. I went to Ryerson School in the 1950s just south of that area.
i lived around the corner at 624 n monticello til 1964, lived at the alamo sometimes twice a week,wish i had pictures of the famous theatre across the street , it wasa the patrone american legion post, when i was a kid . anyone have the same memories
Changing neighborhoods destroyed most theaters, like the Marbro-Paradise and The Alamo to name just a few…………………..
I remember there was a pop machine in the east end of the lobby- The type which dispensed a cup and mixed the syrup with the soda water. The cups always came down crooked and you had to open the little door and straighten it, so you woud always get pop on your hand!! GREAT MEMORIES, GREAT THEATER.
KUDOS to C-T I must pay high compliments to Cinema Treasures for all the work the people behind the scenes have put into this wonderful site to keep it up and running for several years now. Happy Thanks Giving to all……..
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(they can’t crop that)
(the link again since it appears cinematreasures site has strangely cropped off the right side of my post):
https://www.facebook.com/northwestchicagofilmsociety/photos/a.188403531178757.46145.186264588059318/531624763523297/?type=3&theater
‘especially nowadays’ certainly does not apply here regarding enclosed (free) parking for the old Alamo theatre, simply because we see it stated in this vintage 1960 (after you say you’d moved away from the neighborhood) Chicago newspaper theatre section listing. Look under Alamo Theatre @ 3639 Chicago Ave there (after you’ve copied & pasted the link to access) and see for yourselves:
https://www.facebook.com/northwestchicagofilmsociety/photos/a.188403531178757.46145.186264588059318/531624763523297/?type=3&theater
I remember the tearing down of the Alamo a few years later (I remained in west humboldt park through 1981 and wish now I could pinpoint just where that enclosed theatre parking may’ve been, having worked @ Rock-Ola nearby), though as a boy didn’t attach a great deal of importance to the loss
William T. Hooper was architect and F.W. Janisch the structural engineer. Hooper and Janisch did not do much theatrical work.
Anyone rem. the Alamo Jewish deli. on the corner. Was a great place back the.
There was a theater across the st. the Famous…. Funny I never knew of or heard a organ played in the Alamo. I do know when the Famous was demolished my brother got a bunch of the organ pipes.
Broan Thanks..
I rem it being a better site several years back, but this is better then Nuttin !!
Jay, scroll up on this page, click Illinois, then click “Demolished” below the map on that page.
The Alamo opened in early September 1926 for the Lynch circuit, which was under Balaban & Katz/Lubliner & Trinz control. It was planned under the name “Vogue Theater” but opened as Alamo. Architects were Hooper & Janisch and the theater had a three manual Kilgen organ. It was remodeled in 1938 to plans by Roy B. Blass, with a new White Way marquee, stainless steel front, black granite corners, and a new managers office. In 1952, owner Arthur Sass alleged that B&K had strongarmed him into giving them a 25% interest, threatening to build a competing theater across the street and shutting him out of product if he did not comply.
How can I get the Cinema Treasures site that listed the demolished Theaters in IL. and other States with the date they opened and then Demolished ?? Was super interesting to browse….
I would guess that would probably be a few spots at a small auto-repair type garage in the area, not a parking ramp like you might picture.
GFeret Don’t believe anything you read “especially nowadays” and only half of what you see !!! Can only think it became a must have/build after I moved out of that hood in 1959.
yes it must have had enclosed parking because the Alamo ad in a 1960 newspaper theatre listing (the one I’m looking at is 3/25/60) says just that
No enclosed parking, I knew that neighborhood as a kid, friends and I walked everywhere back then. Would not dare do that now.
the old chicago newspaper theatre section print listing for the ALAMO said ‘enclosed free parking’. really? enclosed? enclosed where I wonder
What a shame,long gone now like my youth !!
And all the best theateres.
The good old days are history now,in many many ways.
The ALAMO was a nice clean well run theater, unlike the FAMOUS which was a dirty place. Another plus was the candy store nextdoor and the ALAMO Jewish Deli on the corner of Lawndale & Chicago av. with big Dill Pickles in a barrel for a nickle. We ate many in the ALAMO while watching the movies!!
i lived on monticello av til 63, the alamo was demolished in late 62 and replaced by a national til store that didnt last long the building was demolished and the land was vacent til two years ago.Im looking for pictures of the alamo or the famous,
This was a Balaban, and Katz Theatre, and opened October 1,1930.