Skip to main content

Portage Theater

This is an archived listing.

Address

4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Neighborhood

Portage Park

Architect

Lindley Phelps Rowe, 1920

Description

This Beaux-Arts gem opened as the first movie-only theater on the northwest side. The lobby was renovated in 1940 with a streamlined look to match the newer Art Deco stores nearby. The current marquee was salvaged from Woodlawn’s demolished Tivoli Theater. In 1980, the megaphone-shaped auditorium was multiplexed and awkwardly divided by a wall to add a second screen. Afterward, the theater struggled and closed by 2001. A thoughtful restoration brought it back into use in 2006, and today it presents live events and performances.

Archived In

2016 , 2017