Harvey Theatre
15408 Center Avenue,
Harvey,
IL
60426
15408 Center Avenue,
Harvey,
IL
60426
4 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Publix Theaters Corporation
Architects: Paul T. Haagen
Nearby Theaters
Located on Center Avenue at E. 154th Street. The Harvey Theatre was opened by the Fitzpatrick & McElroy circuit on June 19, 1924. By 1941 it was operated by Publix State Theaters Inc. who were affiliated with Paramount Pictures Inc. and the Balaban & Katz Corp. It is shown as being in operation in the 1941 edition of Film Daily Yearbook with seating for 911.
The Harvey Theatre was still open in the 1980’s.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 27 comments)
Just added two pictures of the Harvey Theatre. Will note Harvey had this, the Brandt, the Era (later New Era), Garden at 15411 Center (destroyed by fire on Dec. 27, 1929), and the American (opened in 1916) and next to the original city hall on 154th.
The Harvey circa 1976 (when they showed movies like “Bingo Long,” “Sparkle,” “Five on the Black Hand Side,” “Black Belt Jones,” etc.) was run by a guy named Robert Taylor. He had worked for Oscar Brotman who owned a number of Chicagoland movie houses in the 60s/70s. The walls of the auditorium of the Harvey were flocked around this time. Taylor told me it was some sort of shredded material that was wetted and then sprayed all over everything. It looked pretty strange, almost like a layer of mold was covering the walls. You could still make out details of ornament on the walls under the dried foam. Taylor later ran the Village Art Theatre in Chicago from the late 70s to the 90s.
Jerry Corgnati, Tom Arden, and Robert Taylor purchased the theater in the mid 80s from Charles Cooper a Chicago businessman. We installed a new screen, flocked the walls and re-opened the theater. Tom Arden also opened the “Wooden Keg” convenience store on Halstead Street in Harvey. He was later killed in an auto accident. He bought out myself and Robert Taylor soon after it opened. At one point in time we operated the Glenwood, Harvey, Lyric, and Holiday in Park Forest. Building the River Oaks D-150 theater was my first project in the theater business in Chicago. I was also a member of the in-famous Local 110 projectionist union. Feel free to contact me by email. Thxpix@bellsouth,net
How far was the Harvey Theatre from the Dixie Square Mall?
2-3 miles. Dixie Square Mall was on Dixie Highway
Thanks Allan, I’ve always enjoyed reading about the Dixie Square Mall too!!
About 2000, the owners tried to make this into a legitimate theater; ironically, considering the comments above, one of the shows was a musical version of BINGO LONG. It was obvious that the owners had little clue for running a “live” theater and the whole enterprise lasted maybe six months. The front of the auditorium was about 15 rows or regular seats, and the back was a raised platform with tables and chairs. There was a bar in the lobby. Later in the experiment, the Sunday shows included a gratis Italian buffet; big serving tins of really bad pasta were put on long tables in back. That ended when the whole “live” theater experience ended.
Kind of fancy marquee for a smaller theatre. A 50’s or 60’s look to it. Great box office and art deco style.
Here is an early article on this theater, including pictures.
Grand opening shots of the Fitzpatrick & McElroy Circuit’s Harvey Theatre on June 19, 1924 are in photos. The architect was Paul T. Haagen.