Portage Theatre

LouRugani on April 2, 2022 at 5:38 pm

Repairs are inching forward on the long-closed Portage Theatre, part of an ambitious, multi-million-dollar plan from its newest owner to revive the iconic venue. Owner Manuel Gliksberg said he has invested $1 million and navigated financial and legal difficulties, and he needs support from the city if he’s going to reopen the landmarked theatre. The extensive renovation will cost at least $10 million, he estimated. The theatre closed in 2018. Gliksberg, an investor who owns a real estate company, bought it later that year.

Gliksberg said he wants “to make this a forever space for the community,” but the building needs costly upgrades so it’ll have more bathrooms, be up to code and to be ADA-compliant, among other things. Gliksberg applied for a city grant to finance some exterior work with help from local officials, but it wasn’t approved. He’s also had to fix a taxing dispute and resolve building code violations, all of which have slowed his progress, particularly during the pandemic, he said.

Neighbors have long waited for the theatre to reopen. Gliksberg said he wants to inject life into the Six Corners shopping district to spur economic development and reawaken the community anchor, but said there’s only so much he can do with private financing. He said he’s willing to put a significant amount of his own money into repairs, but city funds are also needed for the project to make financial sense.

The Portage Theater closed as a cinema in 2001 after operating almost continuously since its debut in 1920. Gliksberg is the third person to take over the space in the past two decades. Soon after, Gliksberg was told he owed thousands in back taxes from the past three years. Those charges have since been taken care of and paid, according to Gliksberg and Cook County property tax portal.

In 2021, the city sued Gliksberg for building code violations involving exterior wall repairs, gutters and downspouts. City records show those violations are pending, but Gliksberg said a city inspector came to the theatre to sign off on the repairs. In the meantime, Gliksberg said he’s invested about $1 million in fixes to the building, including repairs to the exterior roof and rear façade, city records show. He also has done tuckpointing work on all of the exterior walls of the lobby and auditorium, replaced the roof membrane of the auditorium and put in new gutters and downspouts, he said.

Hoping to help Gliksberg push forward with more renovations, the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce applied for an Adopt-A-Landmark grant for the exterior façade last summer. The group sought $242,300 from the city as part of a five-phase revitalization project to fix and replace terra cotta on the nameplate and monumental arch of the theater. Funds were also requested to repair brick issues that have been safety concerns along Milwaukee Avenue.

The city’s Department of Planning and Development, which oversees the grant program, denied funding in January. City officials said Gliksberg did not yet have a comprehensive exterior and interior rehabilitation plan for making the theatre ready for occupancy, and he still owed taxes on the building. Andy Pierce, the theatre historian and chamber member who helped compile the grant application, said the chamber is on board to help Gliksberg apply for more government funding to complete needed repairs.

Gliksberg also wants to apply to use Portage Park Tax Increment Financing district funds for the project. Funds from the tax pool could be used to fix the signs, arch, interior plaster walls, ceilings and HVAC systems. The Portage Park TIF has about $6.5 million for 2022, according to the department’s financial overview. But that money expires at the end of the year. Planning department spokesperson Peter Strazzabosco said there is a lengthy approval process and it might be too late to process an application that hasn’t been submitted. Any uncommitted funds in the TIF will be returned to the appropriate taxing bodies when it expires, Strazzabosco said. “While TIF can provide some flexibility for certain eligible costs, either as a grant or a loan, the district will expire before the proposed terms could be reviewed, approved, closed and the costs incurred. The city is not aware of a formal plan or project for the building, and there’s not enough time for TIF to be used for a proposed project that wasn’t substantially moving forward by now.”

Gliksberg said he hesitated to apply for TIF funds during the height of the pandemic, when the future of live music wasn’t clear and when it was difficult to contract construction workers, architects and inspectors to determine the work needed on the theater. Even with limited time, he said he’s willing to put in money to draft a comprehensive site plan, hire consultants and architects to help carry out his vision. “I will take this gamble and spend the $600,000-$700,000 to bring in all the consultants and get the TIF money with the hope that the city sees how important this project is for the community, but now we’re up against the clock,” he said.

The chamber is hopeful TIF funding for the Six Corners area, even if the theatre doesn’t receive any, can be hurried through the finish line before it’s too late. Chamber President Michael DiMeo said Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) and planning officials support using the money as soon as possible. “We have to push now. We, as business owners that have paid in, this is that rebate coming back to you that we want to see reinvested.”

Gliksberg also plans to apply for a grant from the Chicago Recovery Plan, which gives small grants up to $250,000 and large grants up to $5 million to developers, property owners and entrepreneurs. Strazzabosco said Gliksberg could also apply for property tax incentives that reduce the tax rate for 12 years and Pace financing for certain energy efficiencies to expand his chances of getting governmental assistance. Pace is a program by The Illinois Energy Conservation Authority that enables commercial property owners to obtain long-term, fixed-rate financing for energy efficiency, renewable energy, water use and more.

RickB on August 31, 2023 at 10:43 am

Unauthorized rave attempted last weekend; didn’t last long. Block Club Chicago story here.

DavidZornig on May 7, 2024 at 11:22 am

Block Club Chicago article:
Portage Theater Named One Of Illinois’ Most Endangered Sites: ‘We’re Losing Time’

https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/05/07/portage-theater-named-one-of-illinois-most-endangered-sites-were-losing-time/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3dBb1TO8sL-X8WZOILqLzOkn2q0ZMQSruPqOO9tf5gtQsKz4IokEQLX-Y_aem_ATGubJMIEf9mo48Maok-L9_pKPwz7kPgsbmTYJzSZ9pRPjmEjagdIxCvFu0MgvPzpLAnFu3MMaPA4IM6XFHthoMK

DavidZornig on March 21, 2025 at 8:44 am

“Historic Portage Theater Could Go Into Receivership As Owner Gives Up Property” Attorneys said Thursday the theater’s owners filed a motion to withdraw from the property. Community leaders said they feel like plans to restore the theater are “back at square one.” Below article credit Molly DeVore for Block Club Chicago.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/03/21/historic-portage-theater-could-go-into-receivership-as-owner-gives-up-property/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJKZ6RleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQm6l4DlCQUkD7RlsqUuBYFFDgCxC3bO9JYIBXLpcF-Vd7ZvjWQVEUkfVQ_aem_oSKA3yTCxlR3bkyxvp6n4A

LouRugani on September 19, 2025 at 4:55 am

The shuttered Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., is under contract to be sold for $25,000 to Chris Bauman, founder of the Zenith Music Group that has operated the Patio Theater and Avondale Music Hall, according to recent court testimony.

Any buyer of the theater would presumably also have to pay the county more than $500,000 in back taxes, Curt Bettiker, the count-appointed receiver for the theater, said at a Sept. 11 housing court hearing.

The city of Chicago last year took the theater’s ownership to court over building code issues. A receivership was appointed to help secure and maintain the building after the ownership or its representatives stopped attending court hearings on the matter.

It was reported at the hearing that the Portage Theater LLC has entered a sales contract to sell the theater to Bauman. Bauman took over operations of the Patio in 2018 but around a year ago another entity took the helm at the Patio, according to Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th). A license for the Patio expired on May and there is no active business license for 6008 W. Irving Park Road, the theater’s address, according to the city Department of Business Affairs.

No representatives of Bauman nor the Portage Theater LLC were at the Sept. 11 court hearing.

Bettiker, who represents Chicagoland Neighborhood Resources LLC, said that he has been contacted several times about the need for someone to get into the theater to read a water meter so that the sale of the property can proceed. However, it was reported at the hearing that the meter may be located in the residential portion of the building, which has a different owner.

As receiver, Bettiker has control over the theater’s locks and he said that an alarm system needs to be installed.
“There’s a number of kids breaking into the building literally to just hang out,” Bettiker said.

If the deal with Bauman is not finished by the next court hearing, scheduled for Oct. 16, city attorney Glenn Angel said that the city may ask the court to give Bettiker permission to sell the theater.

At the hearing, Bettiker told another potential buyer, “My hands are kind of tied. The owner still owns the building. … We have to let the contract (with Bauman) play out.”

It was reported at the hearing that the name of a “known real estate investor” was on the sales contract, but the person was not identified.

Currently scaffolding is in place in the front of theater due to safety concerns regarding the marquee. “It’s protecting the public way for when it falls,” Bettiker said.

The theater’s ownership was not covering the cost of city permit fees for the scaffolding, prompting the need for the receivership to pay those fees.

Also at the hearing, a lawyer reported that his client has an $80,000 mechanics lien against the property for unpaid services.

The Portage Theater is a city landmark, and a representative of Preservation Chicago attended the court hearing.

(Brian Nadig, Nadig Newspapers)