Friday, November 18, 2016

Rose Theater / Dale Theater / Round Up Theatre, 2858-60 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

The Rose Theatre, in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, opened in 1914 and could seat over 700. It appears to have closed and reopened more than once during the 1930s.

In 1936, the Rose Theatre reopened as the Dale Theatre.
Reopened in 1949 as the Round Up Theater, its operators, the H & E Balaban chain, adopted a Western movies policy. 
In the 1950s, the Round-Up Theater used a gimmick as a promotion for its western 'B' films: Any child dressed in a cowboy outfit—boots, chaps, bandana, vest, capguns shoved into holsters on a belt—was admitted at a discount. Once passed the usher at the doorway, the kids were required to check their guns at the candy counter. The outer lobby was separated from the theater and concessions by saloon-type swinging doors. Kids would take off their gun belts and place it on the candy counters glass top. A smiling clerk hung it on a peg on the back wall and handed the child a claim check.

It closed sometime during the 1950s. By the late-1950s the building housed a furniture store.

In 2001, Zacatecas Restaurant opened and operated out of the former lobby space, while the auditorium was used for storage. It was demolished in June 2009.
Today, it's a 9-unit condominium building.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal™ is RATED PG-13. Please comment accordingly. Advertisements, spammers and scammers will be removed.