Chicago Theatre circa 2018 Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune
43 years after being forced to close, the Uptown Theatre may reopen its doors.
Jerry Mickelson, Chief Executive Officer of JAM Productions (Uptown’s current owners), stated that “he is trying to reengage the city to talk about redevelopment,” according to CBS News.
In 2018, JAM Productions and Farpoint Development joined Chicago city leaders to announce a plan to restore and reopen the Uptown Theatre.
The plan would amount to $75 million dollars, according to Block Club Chicago, and was meant to “revive a landmark building that would anchor a revamped Uptown entertainment district, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel said at the time.”
Construction on the theater under this plan was set to begin in the summer of 2019. However, no work was done.
The theater industry then shut down for a year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted Farpoint Development’s departure from the project in 2021.
“Farpoint is no longer involved because private money for the Uptown couldn’t be found. The company’s focus is the development of the former Michael Reese Hospital property,” writes a Chicago Sun Times article.
Now, Mickelson is making another attempt to restore the theater-turned-concert-venue.
“This was built at a cost of $4 million,” Mickelson said in an interview with CBS News. “In today’s dollars, that’s probably about what it’s going to cost, what we think, to renovate – which is about $140 million.”
The possibility of the theater’s restoration has landed in the current issues being evaluated by aldermanic candidates for Chicago’s 46th Ward.
Aldermanic candidate Angela Clay voiced that she would involve the community in order to get the theater restoration project in motion.
“Leaning on experiences of other alderpersons who have gone through rehab processes on similar historic buildings, I would ensure we’re pursuing all possible angles of public and private funding sources to help ensure all proposals can be appropriately funded,” she stated to Block Club Chicago.
Aldermanic candidate Kim Walz countered that she would “work with the deputy mayor for economic and neighborhood development to require the owner of the Uptown Theatre to come up with a finance partner within a set period of time and put ultimatums in place if that doesn’t occur,” according to Block Club Chicago.
The Uptown Theatre was originally opened in 1925 and designed by brothers Cornelius Ward Rapp and George Leslie Rapp for the movie chain Balaban and Katz.
Opening during the height of the movie palace popularity, the Uptown Theatre drew a large number of moviegoers. Sometimes, as noted by the Chicago Architecture Center, the line wrapped around the block.
However, as the popularity of movie palaces fell, so did the theater’s customer base.
“With decreasing revenue in the 1960s, the Wurlitzer organ was sold to help cover increasing insurance costs, along with many of the lavish interior paintings and statues. By the 1970s the theater became a live music venue,” states the Chicago Architecture Center.
Before closing in 1981 due to neglect, the theater housed bands such as the J. Geils Band, Grateful Dead, Prince, and Bob Marley.
In December of 1981, the theater’s storm drain pipes froze and burst, consequently causing major flood damage according to the Chicago Architecture Center.
Now, theater caretaker Dave Syfczak says that the two year restoration project is necessary as a “building of this size and its design and its uniqueness needs to survive,” according to CBS News.
It remains unclear what is next for the Uptown Theatre. However, efforts to restore the historic location continue to be made.