Granada Theatre, 6425-6441 North Sheridan Road, Chicago, Cook County, IL

Significance: The Granada Theater is the last surviving example of a movie palace designed by the architectural firm of Levy & Klein with Edward E. Euchenbaum as principal designer. The building is a superb example of the excessively ornamented architecture used for theaters during the early days of moving pictures. Both its exterior, in terra cotta, and its interior, largely in plaster and marble, were then and still are unsurpassed in their outright architectural exuberance. Furthermore, the Granada was the largest theater built for its original owners, the Marks Brothers, and remains one of the largest surviving examples of its type in the United States. When completed in 1926, the building had a number of notable points on importance, including one of the most elaborate heating and air conditioning systems of the period. It also had the first freespan balcony truss in Chicago and the auditorium is still the largest column free theater space in Chicago. The valance above the stage is the only surviving valance of any of Chicago's theaters. The Granada has deteriorated badly during the past two years. It is in ruins. Its useful life is over.
Survey number: HABS IL-1156
Building/structure dates: 1926 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1990 Demolished