18 November 1998
Neighborhood newspaper Inside reported that Goldblatt's plans to close its Uptown store by the end of the year. Goldblatt's has occupied the site since 1931, when it purchased the Loren-Miller department store, former occupant of the building.
31 October 1998
The Chicago Tribune reported that the Chicago chapter of the Shriners have contracted to sell the venerable Medinah Temple to a developer who plans to raze the auditorium at Wabash and Ohio and put up a retail and condominium complex. Built in 1912, the Moorish-style building has hosted hundreds of community functions over the years. The organization attributed their decision to sell the building to the soaring costs of maintenance and declining Shriner membership.
13 October 1998
Mayor Daley and a gathering of dignitaries, reporters, and members of Chicago's theater community officially re-dedicated the Oriental Theater today, thus completing a year-long renovation of the 1926 movie palace. The theater will be open to the public for tours on Sunday, 18 October, and performances of the restored theater's first show, "Ragtime," will begin about a week later.
7 October 1998
According to the weekly News-Star, the Edgewater Development Corporation, as part of the organization's on-going efforts to redevelop the historic Bryn Mawr business district, has set the restoration of the Bryn Mawr Theater as one of its long-term redevelopment goals. The theater, built in 1910, is located at 1125 W. Bryn Mawr.
25 August 1998
Demolition has begun on the Broadway Strand Theater at 1641 W. Roosevelt Rd. The theater, which has gone unused for many years, opened in 1917.
5 August 1998
The weekly newspaper Inside reported that renovation work will soon begin on the Century Shopping Center on Clark Street just north of Diversey. One goal of the project will be to refurbish the historic Arabesque façade of the old Century Theater that was preserved when 1924 movie palace was demolished to make way for the seven-story mall. Ironically, the mall's owners, Hiffman Shaffer Associates, Inc., also plan to convert the mall's top two floors into a new, seven-screen cineplex.
8 July 1998
During a press tour, Livent Inc. vice chairman Garth Drabinsky announced that the $32 million-dollar renovation of the Oriental Theater on Randolph Street is moving along according to plans. The former movie palace, which opened in 1926, is scheduled to reopen on 27 October 1998.
4 April 1998
The Chicago Tribune reported that a developer has proposed demolishing the former Tribune Building on the southeast corner of Dearborn and Madison Streets to make way for a new skyscraper comparable to the Sears Tower in height. The most popular feature of the Tribune Building during the early twentieth century was its electronic message board, which displayed scrolling news bulletins, election returns, and sports scores for passers-by. During the baseball World Series in October 1907, for instance, fans of the Chicago Cubs jammed Dearborn Street to receive play-by-play updates as their side took on the Tigers in Detroit.
2 April 1998
The Chicago Defender reported that the Chicago City Council has approved $4 million to help fund the first phase of construction on the Lou Rawls Theater and Cultural Center at 47th Street and King Drive. The theater, which will occupy the site of the legendary Regal Theater, is backed by the not-for-profit Tobacco Road Inc. and singer Lou Rawls. Local alderwoman Dorothy Tillman expects the theater will serve as an anchor for a revitalized blues district along 47th Street.
1 April 1998
The Chicago City Council designated the Allerton Hotel, located on the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Huron Street, a landmark, which will reduce the hotel's property tax rate. The deal will apparently save the hotel from demolition and enable its new owners, Bristol Hotel Company of Dallas, Texas, to go ahead with a $41 million renovation project. The Allerton, which opened in 1924, was one of the city's most fashionable residential hotels during the Jazz Age and its rooftop club, the Tip Top Tap, was a popular night spot.
10 December 1997
The city of Chicago began demolition of the Metropolitan Theater, a neglected and badly delapidated South Side movie house. The theater, built in 1916, was located at 4644 South Parkway, or what is now King Drive. Neighborhood efforts to preserve the structure failed for lack of funds and suitable reuse options.
21 October 1997
The Chicago Tribune reported that Robert Morris College plans to open a new campus in the former Sears Roebuck and Company store at State and VanBuren Streets following a $15 million renovation. The building, completed in 1891, was originally the home of the Siegel-Cooper department store.
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