The Granada and the Uptown were both located along what is now the CTA Red Line. The Granada was about ¼ mile south of the Loyola station and the Uptown is just west of the Lawrence station. Up until 1993, the Red Line was known as the Howard-Jackson-Englewood.
The Red Line travels through the State Street Subway and the Blue Line travels through the Dearborn Street Subway. Both were begun as WPA projects in the 1930s. The State Street Subway opened in 1943 according to http://www.chicago-l.org/operations/lines/red.html however World War II shortages delayed the opening of the Dearborn Subway until about 1951.
Even today, many cinemas and still-extant former cinemas are located along “L”. Excluding the Downtown Theatres, here’s a line-by-line breakdown:
Blue Line: Gateway, Logan, Congress.
Red Line: Village North, (Brew ‘n’ View at the) Vic, Victory Gardens (ex Biograph), Drury Lane Water Tower (ex Water Tower Cinemas), 600 North Michigan Cinemas, Chatham.
Brown Line: Music Box.
Pink Line: Showplace 14 at Hawthorn Works
Purple Line: Century 12 Theatres/Cine Arts 6
Green Line: Lake
I’ve probably missed a few, and I omitted closed theatres like the Esquire and the 3 Penny.
Chicago’s mass transit system is huge, much like New York’s, but on a scale appropriate for its size. Although we do have subways here, which were mainly built during the Great Depression, the soft clay here makes subways extremely expensive to build. Hence, we have a lot of our system elevated, at street level, or in highway medians. Much of the area’s “L” system is currently under renovation, so transit times are high here.
Suburbanites do come downtown. We have an excellent commuter rail system called Metra, which does run on weekends. The suburbs in Indiana are served by a different commuter rail system, the South Shore Line, which is not a part of Metra, but does run downtown also.
Unfortunately, ALL of Chicago’s rail system, “L” and commuter rail is downtown-oriented. There is still no convenient way to go across town from North to South, not even by driving. We were supposed to have had a Crosstown Expressway years ago, complete with an “L” line in the middle, but the NIMBYs (Not in My Back Yard) didn’t want it. The Uptown is and the Granada was on the North Side, both accessible via the “L”—the Red Line—but not practical for suburbanites and Northwest Siders to get there.
The downtown theatres (Chicago, Oriental, Cadillac Palace, Goodman, LaSalle Bank—formerly the Schubert—, and the Auditorium) all do well in part because of good parking, good public transportation, and the general renaissance of the downtown area. All but the Auditorium are former movie theatres.
Catherine is right, parking would be a big issue for the Uptown. It was an issue too for this place. At least that’s what the “official story” was regarding the Granada. I made a comment regarding this on my May 26, 2006 post, but I’ll repeat it here:
“In the late 1970s or early 1980s, a company called "M and M Amusements” took over this place. M and M attempted to clean the theatre up and began booking top-name entertainment at the time. Such bookings included a stage version of Rocky Horror and concerts such as Cheap Trick and Off Broadway USA (“…Stay in time boy/Don’t get out of line boy). M and M ran into trouble with the community because of the lack of parking. The community supposedly claimed that concert-goers were vandalizing the area, damaging automobiles, etc. As a result, M and M lost its liqour license and was unable to book concerts after that. It was a shame too, because it seemed that M and M really tried to make the Granada Theatre work.
Then again, there were all sorts of politics behind the liqour license suspension…."
As for the Chicago Theatre’s parking situation, since it is Downtown (The Loop), there are plenty of parking lots which will be happy to charge customers upwards of $20.00 to park. But since The Loop has seen a comeback, and it’s transit friendly, many people elect to take public transportation. All CTA L lines are close. Many suburbanites take public transportation to The Loop too. The Metra Electric and the South Shore terminate 2 blocks east of the Chicago and the other Metra lines are but a quick cab ride away.
Life’s Too Shore: I remember that parking deck at Broadway & Lawrence. When I worked for Andy Frain Ushering, which had a contract for the Uptown, I’d use that deck.
Also, see my comments on the 600 North Michigan Theatre. Reportedly, that was to have been taken over by Meridian too, but the property owners did not believe that the company had the finances to operate such a “high-fent” property. This was probably a good thing as the 600 North is alive and well as a cinema today.
None of the cinemas that were in the Meridian Chain function as such anymore. The Broadway/Lakeshore reverted to the Lakeshore name and is now a play house. The Biograph of course is now the home of Victory Gardens Theatre. And the Water Tower became the Drury Lane Water Tower Place.
Some Meridians did re-open under the Village Theatres chain, albeit briefly. The Biograph, the Water Tower, and the Burnham Plaza come to mind, although there may have been a few more. The Burnham Plaza closed in 2005, thus making it the last ex-Meridian to function as a cinema.
It may have been known as the Broadway Cinema under Plitt, but I’m not sure about this. For a picture of it in Cineplex Odeon days, click here http://www.mekong.net/random/cinema13.htm and you’ll see that C-O covered the marquee with some sort of ugly metallic-looking surface.
This link will take you directly to the Biograph http://www.mekong.net/random/cinema14.htm however, I recommend using the link in the above post to check out many good pictures of Chicago Cinemas. Just keep clicking on “next set” after you view each set of photos.
The Biograph was extensively modernized by Cineplex-Odeon (refer to my above post. For additional views of the auditoriums in the post C-O era, click on here http://www.mekong.net/random/cinema4a.htm and then find the set that has the Biograph.
All of the Cineplex-Odeon details are present. Look at the carpet, the zig-zag patterns on the wall (Cinemark Fan would enjoy that, he’s asked me if several former C-Os had that pattern). It was true that a lot of historic details were lost. But it was an attempt by C-O to modernize its theatres and it didn’t look too bad (or more accurately it didn’t look as bad as some “modernizations”) Cineplex-Odeon entered the Chicago Market with good intentions, however the company really over-extended itself.
This place was, in the 1970s, a playhouse and it was called The Studebaker. I remember my parents dragging me to some b-o-r-i-n-g play on Emily Dickinson. When it re-opened as the Fine Arts, M&R had it. It eventually passed thru Sony Theatres (aka M&R Leows, Sony-Loews, et al) and on to Loews.
I attended Columbia College two blocks to the south between 1984 and 1987. I remember when this was Chicago’s “art house.” I and my classmates would go here if we had a few hours between classes (at that time Columbia was a “commuter college”—no dorms). M&R always gave student discounts. I remember such fare as THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, REPO MAN, METROPOLIS (the 1984 re-release which was restored and had a soundtrack from Georgio Morodor added), THREE MEN AND A CRADLE (the French version of THREE MEN AND A BABY), and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. I had graduated by the time that last film was out and that was the last time I ever went there.
And yes, Catherine DiM, I did see STOP MAKING SENSE and TRUE STORIES here. Despite being Chicago’s “art house”, I always thought that this place was a little bit of a dive—it always seemed so musty inside. Still, what great films played here! As a previous poster stated, as time went on, more mainstream movies played here, particularly in the late 90s and early 2000s. I guess I really wasn’t surprised when it closed.
So some decent films did play here then. By the way, check out the posting on the main page of Classic Cinemas vs. Village Theatres. I think you might find it interesting and what your opinion would be.
1) The “Also Known As..” should include the Dearborn Cinemas name.
2) I’m going to the Harold Washington Library and search microfilm on the Dearborn Cinemas. I would like to veruify the movies the Dearborn showed.
3) I’ve often heard complaints on Cinema Treasures that cinemas are torn down and replaced with something bland. Fortunately, these theatres were replaced by a performing arts venue, the Goodman Theatre. I’ve attended several plays at the Goodman and it is a terrific facility.
4) I believe that in the 70s, the Todd showed the action movies and the Cinestage was the porno house.
1) The “Also Known As..” should include the Dearborn Cinemas name.
2) I’m going to the Harold Washington Library and search microfilm on the Dearborn Cinemas. I would like to veruify the movies the Dearborn showed.
3) I’ve often heard complaints on Cinema Treasures that cinemas are torn down and replaced with something bland. Fortunately, these theatres were replaced by a performing arts venue, the Goodman Theatre. I’ve attended several plays at the Goodman and it is a terrific facility.
I’ve often thought that this is Village’s game plan.
1) Take over a theatre that no one else wants.
2) Run it for awhile into the ground.
3) Make some profit in it by minimal investment.
4) Leave it for dead and take over another theatre.
A Projectionist—I think that Village is “Crazy-Like-A-Fox” and I
honestly believe that the above is thier game plan. Village could coast for a very long time and make profits by doing this, squeezing every last cent from a theatre, as long as other chains will supply them with cast-off multi-plexes. I have no doubt that the next theatre they’ll close will be the Bloomingdale Court and the next one they may take over will be the Chicago Ridge.
Was the exterior color on this place a Cineplex-Odeon re-do? It sure looks like the same color brick used on the Burnham, the Bricktown, the Lincoln Village, etc.
As we’ve mentioned many times, the interior received a C-O re-do just like the Biograph did.
Of course, I meant the ones which were still open and functioning as cinemas. The Oriental is a live theatre, and the Portage sees sporadic use for different functions. How could I forget the Portage? I lived in the neighborhood.
So my I suppose the survivors would be the Norridge, the Webster, and the River Run/Lansing
Go to www.images.google.com and then click on “maps”. Then click on
“satellite”. Enter the theatre’s address and zoom all the way in. The abandoned Foxfield Theatre is just above the green arrow. It is a very good image. You will see the abandoned parking lot to the west (left) of the building.
The Old Orchard was a block or two south of Old Orchard on
Skokie Boulevard.
Also, Doug D.
1947 was when the CTA took over from the Chicago Surface Lines and the Chicago Rapid Transit.
The Granada and the Uptown were both located along what is now the CTA Red Line. The Granada was about ¼ mile south of the Loyola station and the Uptown is just west of the Lawrence station. Up until 1993, the Red Line was known as the Howard-Jackson-Englewood.
The Red Line travels through the State Street Subway and the Blue Line travels through the Dearborn Street Subway. Both were begun as WPA projects in the 1930s. The State Street Subway opened in 1943 according to http://www.chicago-l.org/operations/lines/red.html however World War II shortages delayed the opening of the Dearborn Subway until about 1951.
Even today, many cinemas and still-extant former cinemas are located along “L”. Excluding the Downtown Theatres, here’s a line-by-line breakdown:
Blue Line: Gateway, Logan, Congress.
Red Line: Village North, (Brew ‘n’ View at the) Vic, Victory Gardens (ex Biograph), Drury Lane Water Tower (ex Water Tower Cinemas), 600 North Michigan Cinemas, Chatham.
Brown Line: Music Box.
Pink Line: Showplace 14 at Hawthorn Works
Purple Line: Century 12 Theatres/Cine Arts 6
Green Line: Lake
I’ve probably missed a few, and I omitted closed theatres like the Esquire and the 3 Penny.
Geo,
Chicago’s mass transit system is huge, much like New York’s, but on a scale appropriate for its size. Although we do have subways here, which were mainly built during the Great Depression, the soft clay here makes subways extremely expensive to build. Hence, we have a lot of our system elevated, at street level, or in highway medians. Much of the area’s “L” system is currently under renovation, so transit times are high here.
Suburbanites do come downtown. We have an excellent commuter rail system called Metra, which does run on weekends. The suburbs in Indiana are served by a different commuter rail system, the South Shore Line, which is not a part of Metra, but does run downtown also.
Unfortunately, ALL of Chicago’s rail system, “L” and commuter rail is downtown-oriented. There is still no convenient way to go across town from North to South, not even by driving. We were supposed to have had a Crosstown Expressway years ago, complete with an “L” line in the middle, but the NIMBYs (Not in My Back Yard) didn’t want it. The Uptown is and the Granada was on the North Side, both accessible via the “L”—the Red Line—but not practical for suburbanites and Northwest Siders to get there.
The downtown theatres (Chicago, Oriental, Cadillac Palace, Goodman, LaSalle Bank—formerly the Schubert—, and the Auditorium) all do well in part because of good parking, good public transportation, and the general renaissance of the downtown area. All but the Auditorium are former movie theatres.
Geo,
Catherine is right, parking would be a big issue for the Uptown. It was an issue too for this place. At least that’s what the “official story” was regarding the Granada. I made a comment regarding this on my May 26, 2006 post, but I’ll repeat it here:
“In the late 1970s or early 1980s, a company called "M and M Amusements” took over this place. M and M attempted to clean the theatre up and began booking top-name entertainment at the time. Such bookings included a stage version of Rocky Horror and concerts such as Cheap Trick and Off Broadway USA (“…Stay in time boy/Don’t get out of line boy). M and M ran into trouble with the community because of the lack of parking. The community supposedly claimed that concert-goers were vandalizing the area, damaging automobiles, etc. As a result, M and M lost its liqour license and was unable to book concerts after that. It was a shame too, because it seemed that M and M really tried to make the Granada Theatre work.
Then again, there were all sorts of politics behind the liqour license suspension…."
As for the Chicago Theatre’s parking situation, since it is Downtown (The Loop), there are plenty of parking lots which will be happy to charge customers upwards of $20.00 to park. But since The Loop has seen a comeback, and it’s transit friendly, many people elect to take public transportation. All CTA L lines are close. Many suburbanites take public transportation to The Loop too. The Metra Electric and the South Shore terminate 2 blocks east of the Chicago and the other Metra lines are but a quick cab ride away.
Life’s Too Shore: I remember that parking deck at Broadway & Lawrence. When I worked for Andy Frain Ushering, which had a contract for the Uptown, I’d use that deck.
Typo: Should be “high-rent” property.
Also, see my comments on the 600 North Michigan Theatre. Reportedly, that was to have been taken over by Meridian too, but the property owners did not believe that the company had the finances to operate such a “high-fent” property. This was probably a good thing as the 600 North is alive and well as a cinema today.
Catherine,
None of the cinemas that were in the Meridian Chain function as such anymore. The Broadway/Lakeshore reverted to the Lakeshore name and is now a play house. The Biograph of course is now the home of Victory Gardens Theatre. And the Water Tower became the Drury Lane Water Tower Place.
Some Meridians did re-open under the Village Theatres chain, albeit briefly. The Biograph, the Water Tower, and the Burnham Plaza come to mind, although there may have been a few more. The Burnham Plaza closed in 2005, thus making it the last ex-Meridian to function as a cinema.
It may have been known as the Broadway Cinema under Plitt, but I’m not sure about this. For a picture of it in Cineplex Odeon days, click here http://www.mekong.net/random/cinema13.htm and you’ll see that C-O covered the marquee with some sort of ugly metallic-looking surface.
This link will take you directly to the Biograph http://www.mekong.net/random/cinema14.htm however, I recommend using the link in the above post to check out many good pictures of Chicago Cinemas. Just keep clicking on “next set” after you view each set of photos.
The Biograph was extensively modernized by Cineplex-Odeon (refer to my above post. For additional views of the auditoriums in the post C-O era, click on here http://www.mekong.net/random/cinema4a.htm and then find the set that has the Biograph.
All of the Cineplex-Odeon details are present. Look at the carpet, the zig-zag patterns on the wall (Cinemark Fan would enjoy that, he’s asked me if several former C-Os had that pattern). It was true that a lot of historic details were lost. But it was an attempt by C-O to modernize its theatres and it didn’t look too bad (or more accurately it didn’t look as bad as some “modernizations”) Cineplex-Odeon entered the Chicago Market with good intentions, however the company really over-extended itself.
This place was, in the 1970s, a playhouse and it was called The Studebaker. I remember my parents dragging me to some b-o-r-i-n-g play on Emily Dickinson. When it re-opened as the Fine Arts, M&R had it. It eventually passed thru Sony Theatres (aka M&R Leows, Sony-Loews, et al) and on to Loews.
I attended Columbia College two blocks to the south between 1984 and 1987. I remember when this was Chicago’s “art house.” I and my classmates would go here if we had a few hours between classes (at that time Columbia was a “commuter college”—no dorms). M&R always gave student discounts. I remember such fare as THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, REPO MAN, METROPOLIS (the 1984 re-release which was restored and had a soundtrack from Georgio Morodor added), THREE MEN AND A CRADLE (the French version of THREE MEN AND A BABY), and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. I had graduated by the time that last film was out and that was the last time I ever went there.
And yes, Catherine DiM, I did see STOP MAKING SENSE and TRUE STORIES here. Despite being Chicago’s “art house”, I always thought that this place was a little bit of a dive—it always seemed so musty inside. Still, what great films played here! As a previous poster stated, as time went on, more mainstream movies played here, particularly in the late 90s and early 2000s. I guess I really wasn’t surprised when it closed.
Is Artist’s Snack Shop still in business?
Interesting that Kerasotes took it over. Most everybody I know calls this place “The Crown.”
If everyone starts calling it “Village Crossing”, it’ll sound too much like the infamous Village Theatres!
Oddly enough, the Crown Village has the word “village” in its name.
I think Jimpiscitelli means CLassic Cinemas.
Cinemark Fan,
So some decent films did play here then. By the way, check out the posting on the main page of Classic Cinemas vs. Village Theatres. I think you might find it interesting and what your opinion would be.
1) The “Also Known As..” should include the Dearborn Cinemas name.
2) I’m going to the Harold Washington Library and search microfilm on the Dearborn Cinemas. I would like to veruify the movies the Dearborn showed.
3) I’ve often heard complaints on Cinema Treasures that cinemas are torn down and replaced with something bland. Fortunately, these theatres were replaced by a performing arts venue, the Goodman Theatre. I’ve attended several plays at the Goodman and it is a terrific facility.
4) I believe that in the 70s, the Todd showed the action movies and the Cinestage was the porno house.
1) The “Also Known As..” should include the Dearborn Cinemas name.
2) I’m going to the Harold Washington Library and search microfilm on the Dearborn Cinemas. I would like to veruify the movies the Dearborn showed.
3) I’ve often heard complaints on Cinema Treasures that cinemas are torn down and replaced with something bland. Fortunately, these theatres were replaced by a performing arts venue, the Goodman Theatre. I’ve attended several plays at the Goodman and it is a terrific facility.
Catherine,
I’ve often thought that this is Village’s game plan.
1) Take over a theatre that no one else wants.
2) Run it for awhile into the ground.
3) Make some profit in it by minimal investment.
4) Leave it for dead and take over another theatre.
A Projectionist—I think that Village is “Crazy-Like-A-Fox” and I
honestly believe that the above is thier game plan. Village could coast for a very long time and make profits by doing this, squeezing every last cent from a theatre, as long as other chains will supply them with cast-off multi-plexes. I have no doubt that the next theatre they’ll close will be the Bloomingdale Court and the next one they may take over will be the Chicago Ridge.
Cinemark Fan:
Was the exterior color on this place a Cineplex-Odeon re-do? It sure looks like the same color brick used on the Burnham, the Bricktown, the Lincoln Village, etc.
As we’ve mentioned many times, the interior received a C-O re-do just like the Biograph did.
I saw THE BREAKFAST CLUB here, so it was open at least into 1985.
Of course, I meant the ones which were still open and functioning as cinemas. The Oriental is a live theatre, and the Portage sees sporadic use for different functions. How could I forget the Portage? I lived in the neighborhood.
So my I suppose the survivors would be the Norridge, the Webster, and the River Run/Lansing
Are this place and the Norridge the last two remaining former M&R theatres in Chicagoland?
Go to www.images.google.com and then click on “maps”. Then click on
“satellite”. Enter the theatre’s address and zoom all the way in. The abandoned Foxfield Theatre is just above the green arrow. It is a very good image. You will see the abandoned parking lot to the west (left) of the building.
Have they stopped showing Bollywood films here? Yahoo Movies says that they are showing BLOOD DIAMOND and THE QUEEN.