c. 1927 vibrantly colored american exterior lawndale theater facade stained glass medallion – willam p. whitney, architect

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historically-important american exterior late 1920’s lawndale theater facade stained glass medallion carefully extracted from the theater’s grand palladian window found above the marquee. the brightly colored oversized circular-shaped slag art glass window features a centrally located shield with nondescript symbolism and/or design motifs, flanked by flowing leafage interspersed with a cathedral or hammered texture semi-transparent glass. chicago theaters such as the marbro, granada, chicago, etc., contain similar distinctive stained glass medallions adorning their facades (the former two have since been demolished). the window was removed at a point where surrounding regions of the palladian window were being heavily damaged by vandals. the 2000-seat spanish revival style lawndale theater was designed by william p. whitney and r. levine & company in 1927. the west side chicago theater original opened as the “new yiddish theater, but was later renamed shortly thereafter. the white terra cotta-clad theater building later became the rena theater until finally closing its doors in 1963. the theater was converted into a church, which operated until the 1990’s. although the theater building still stands (vacant and badly deteriorating), it is slated for demolition by the city of chicago. urban remains acquired the salvaged rights in 2009 and spent nearly six months carefully removing artifacts. the stained glass medallion resides on permanent display in the bldg. 51 museum. possibly fabricated by the drehobl brothers, chicago, il.