Pantheon Theatre, 4642 N. Sheridan, Uptown, Chicago

The Uptown wasn't the only large movie house in Uptown. Before that, there was the Pantheon, located just north of Wilson on Sheridan. Designed by Walter Ahlschlager for the Lubliner and Trinz chain, it opened in 1918. Here's a great advertisement for Kewanee Smokeless boilers featuring the Pantheon Theatre.

According to Cinema Treasures:

"The Pantheon opened its doors in 1918 for the Lubliner & Trinz chain, located in the Uptown neighborhood on Sheridan Road at Eastwood Avenue. At the time it opened, it was said to have 3000 seats. It was the largest movie theater in the area until seven years later, when the nearby Uptown Theatre opened. The theater cost over $750,000 to build, and was decorated in the style of the Italian Renaissance, complete with a double organ and a 30-piece orchestra. Within a few years, the operation of the Pantheon was taken over by Essaness until, like so many other theaters in Chicago, it was added to the always-expanding Balaban and Katz chain. By the 50s, the Uptown neighborhood was no longer the entertainment mecca it was from the 1910s through WWII, and the Pantheon's fortunes rapidly declined, as did the rest of Uptown. The Pantheon remained in operation into the early 60s. It was demolished in 1962 and was replaced by a parking lot."

If Ahlschlager's name sounds familiar, it's because he designed a number of Uptown's most prominent buildings, including the Sheridan Plaza Hotel. Get a PDF download of some of his work here: Walter Ahlschlager.

Wilson Avenue Theatre, Wilson, Uptown Chicago

This is probably my favorite image in my collection. It is of the Wilson Avenue Theatre, now a TCF Bank, on Wilson near the northeast corner of Broadway. (You can see a bit of the Uptown/Wilson El Stop in the lower left corner).

The image below, captured from Google maps, shows the same stretch of Wilson. The theatre/bank is the only building left.

I have heard rumours--unconfirmed--that an entertainment company wants to buy the bank and renovate it as a small theatre space. Can anyone confirm this?

Green Mill Destroyed by Fire (Uptown Chicago Vintage News Articles)

From The Chicago Daily Tribune, April 27, 1933:

Acts to Rebuild Green Mill, Lost in $100,000 Fire
Six Firemen and Woman Spectator Injured

Plans were made yesterday to rebuild the Green Mill building, Broadway and Lawrence Avenue, which was destroyed in an early morning fire with an estimated damage of $100,000. Tom Chamales, owner of the two-story structure, announced that he planned to replace the building with one of similar proportions.

Six firemen were injured, one of them severely, and one woman was overcome with smoke in the blaze that started in a Walgreen Drug Store at 4800 Broadway. The fireman most seriously injured is Lt. James W. O'Malley of Engine 128, 5908 Leonard Street. His back was crushed and he suffered internal injuries.

Other Firemen Injured
The other firemen hurt are Oscar Stewart of Engine 128, 6124 Melrose Street; Fred Kinsler of Engine 128, 3007 Cullerton Street; Frank J. Kubik of Rescue Squad 4, 2508 North Menard Avenue, Lt. William Shay of Squad 4, 3230 Eastwood Avenue; Capt. Raymond J. Howe of Engine 70, 6419 North Albany Avenue.

Mrs. Ella Winters, 39 years old, 1001 Sunnyside Avenue, a spectator, was overcome by smoke and motor gas fumes and taken to the Lakeside Hospital for treatment.

Lt. O'Malley was injured when he went to the rescue of Fireman Kinsler, who was trapped beneath a pile of falling debris in the Green Mill Restaurant at 4806 Broadway. Lt. O'Malley was pinned to the floor as part of the roof gave way. Both men were carried to the street by rescue squads.

Half Dozen Shops Destroyed
The fire was discovered by workers in the drug store at 7 o'clock in the morning. It spread northward through the half block long structure, which extends to 4810 Broadway, and also damaged a Fannie May candy shop at 4812 Broadway. The Wolff Jewelry Shop, the Stop and Eat restaurant, the Excell Photo studio, and the Green Mill ballroom, all quartered in the building, were destroyed in the blaze. The fire was prevented from spreading to the Uptown Theatre, 4814 Broadway, firemen said, by the fire walls of the structure.