Stepping through the doors, you are transported to an exotic and lavishly decorated far-off land. This sense of escape from the real world is exactly the point of such “atmospheric theaters.” Such grand palaces of leisure offered respite and entertainment to the public in the decades before television became ubiquitous.
In the boom years of the 1920s, countless buildings in America borrowed from historic architectural styles. Veterans returning from service in foreign lands during the first World War and tourists armed with early cameras brought images home of exotic places that inspired architects. Some of the most fanciful of these historicist buildings were atmospheric theaters. These buildings borrowed from exotic and exciting places, and were constructed with such lavish attention to detail that the typical moviegoer might forget she was in Chicago.
John Eberson was a prolific designer of atmospheric theaters. His plans for the Avalon Theater were said to have been inspired by a Persian incense burner he found at an antiques store. The lobby is resplendent with colored tile under a flying carpet ceiling. Set into the ceiling are gemstones that glistened as they moved, blown by the air from a then recent innovation, air conditioning.
Passing from the lobby to the enormous auditorium is like walking out of a palace and into an outdoor bazaar at night, with a tent over the stage and screen. More than 2,000 guests could gaze under a simulated night sky, complete with twinkling lights as stars. It’s easy to imagine someone completely forgetting their place in the world after a double feature in such a grand and unusual space.
The original Regal Theater at 47th St. and King Dr. was a gem of historic Bronzeville, and played host to numerous famous African-American performers. As Bronzeville changed, it declined and was eventually demolished in 1973.
Around that same time, the former Avalon Theater went into use as a church. New owners purchased it in the late 1980s, renovated it, and rechristened it the New Regal Theater, in homage to that fallen landmark. Since then, it has had ups and downs, but remains an anchor on which hopes of community revitalization in South Shore rest.
The Chicago Architecture Center’s partnership with the South Shore community is sponsored by Allstate Insurance Company.
This 2,500-seat auditorium opened in 1927 as the Avalon Theater. It was renamed in 1987 as a tribute to the original Regal Theater in Bronzeville, which was demolished in 1973. The atmospheric Moorish…
