09 Nov a rare glimpse inside rapp and rapp’s central park theater, chicago’s oldest extant movie palace

with more and more projects piling up, including taking over a thousand images of the congress theater (completed 1926, fridstein & company, architects) the other day before it undergoes an extensive rehabilitation this spring, i’ve decided to simply begin posting images of central park theater’s cavernous interior (note: the ornamental terra cotta exterior and hub electric lightig system were covered in a previous blog entry last week) when time permits. i struggle immensely with hastily assembling posts, but i feel my back is against the wall.

the following images were taken back in january, on a dreary afternoon day, where my assistant and i gained access through pastor dr. robert marshall. despite lacking power and heat, i managed to capture both the micro and macro “elements” contained within this prototypical “movie palace” with the use of portable lighting brought along with camera equipment and safety gear (e.g., fall-protection, etc.),  so i was able to traverse and document the multi-chambered, fire-proofed “attic” space above the arched plaster ceiling.

central park theater’s auditorium as of january, 2016. note the removal of the false ceiling installed in the early 1970’s when the shuttered theater was converted into a church.

images below were taken in the space above the steel mesh plaster ceiling:

to be honest, i haven’t spent enough time editing images taken of central park theater, but i wanted to post some of the work i’ve done thus far. to be continued…

more images to follow when time permits.

1940 photographic image of horizontal marquee on rapp and rapp’s central park theater (1917). i cannot recall what year the the illuminated bare bulb horizontal marque pictured here replaced the original, which was a more subdued looking awning devoid of the flashy oversized lettering. the original configuration is shown in the second image used in an old post i did on the theater’s glazed exterior terra cotta designed for use with integrated incandescent lights supplied by hub electric. courtesy of ryerson and burnham, art institute of chicago.