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Genesee Theatre is a
The construction of the theatre began in September 1927. Waukegan contractor Alva Weeks and Chicago Architect Edward P. Steinberg were hired to construct the theatre. Steinberg had just built the BelPark and State theatres in Chicago, IL. No expense was spared in the construction of the theatre. The façade, on Genesee street, was built from terra cotta and pressed brick in ornate design. Inside the lobby hanged a luxurious chandelier. The interior is Spanish Renaissance Style using
concert hall
A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats.
This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...
and movie palace
A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...
in Waukegan, Illinois
''(Fortress or Trading Post)''
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. Today, the venue has seats for 2,403 people and opened in 1927. It's both used as a vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
theater and cinema and hosts musical artists and shows.
History
In 1926, A.L. Brumund, H.C. Burnett, and D.T. Webb bought land at the corner of Genesee and Clayton Streets for $130,000. Their wish was to create a community center for Waukegan that provided high-quality entertainments as well as commercial and living spaces. After a year and a half and a million dollars later they had created a luxurious movie palace open to the public. Flourishing growth in this city north of Chicago, justified the building of a deluxe and luxurious movie theater that was unparalleled at the time throughout most of the country.
The construction of the theatre began in September 1927. Waukegan contractor Alva Weeks and Chicago Architect Edward P. Steinberg were hired to construct the theatre. Steinberg had just built the BelPark and State theatres in Chicago, IL. No expense was spared in the construction of the theatre. The façade, on Genesee street, was built from terra cotta and pressed brick in ornate design. Inside the lobby hanged a luxurious chandelier. The interior is Spanish Renaissance Style using Caen stone
Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about ...
. A large dome in the center of the auditorium was made from hammered silver. Over 1200 yards of tapestry fabric, several tons of marble from the Carrera quarries in Italy, and lighting throughout the Theatre combine to make it the most lavish building in Waukegan, IL.
It originally closed in 1989, however it re-opened in 2004, following a $23 million renovation.
Despite the changes to the Theatre, the historic integrity of the Genesee has stood the