The Chautauqua Auditorium, built in 1903, is a large historic

icosagon In geometry, an icosagon or 20-gon is a twenty-sided polygon. The sum of any icosagon's interior angles is 3240 degrees. Regular icosagon The regular icosagon has Schläfli symbol , and can also be constructed as a truncated decagon, , or a t ...

al (20-sided) wooden

chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

meeting hall located at Forest Park and North East 9th Street,

Shelbyville, Illinois Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Shelby County, Illinois, Shelby County, Illinois, United States, along the Kaskaskia River. As of the 2020 census, the population was at 4,674. HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital, located in town, is the co ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On January 30, 1978, it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It is the largest building of its kind anywhere in the world. The building was constructed by a local bridge builder and designed with a unique system of structural support. Because of this, there are no interior pillars to block the view of the stage. The large stage features three female Grecian statues representing Art, Music and Drama. These statues were works from renowned Illinois artist and Shelbyville native Robert Root. In 2009

Landmarks Illinois The Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois – also known as Landmarks Illinois – is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1971 to prevent the demolition of the Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan designed Chicago Stock Exchange Building. A ...

declared it one of the 10 most endangered historic places in Illinois. The building is in need of extensive repairs which are estimated to cost $1,750,000. The city of Shelbyville which owns the auditorium has threatened to tear it down if repairs cannot be made within 2 years. Th
Chautauqua Auditorium Preservation Committee
is working on funding for a four-phase renovation project. In 2020, 60% of local residents voted in favor of restoring the historic auditorium instead of demolishing it. Required restoration work included structural repairs, a new roof and floor, painting and a new stage. These preservation efforts were supported by Landmarks Illinois. The Chautauqua reopened in September 2021."In the Field: Chautauqua and Tabernacle Celebrations", ''The Arch'', Landmarks Illinois, Nov 2001, Vol 8, number 1.

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Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Chautauqua Buildings and structures in Shelby County, Illinois Theatres completed in 1903 National Register of Historic Places in Shelby County, Illinois Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois {{ShelbyCountyIL-NRHP-stub