The Medinah Temple is a large

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

building in Chicago built by

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...

architects Huehl and Schmidt in 1912. It is located on the Near North Side of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at 600 N. Wabash Avenue, extending from Ohio Street to Ontario Street. In 2022, it was announced that the site will temporarily house a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

while the $1.7B Bally's Casino is under construction nearby.

History

The building originally housed an ornate auditorium seating approximately 4,200 on three levels. The stage floor extended a considerable distance into the auditorium, and the seating was arranged in a U-shape around it. The auditorium contained an

Austin Organ Company Austin Organs, Inc., is a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Hartford, Connecticut. The company is one of the oldest continuously-operating organ manufacturers in the United States. The first instruments were built in 1893 with the Austin Patent ...

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

(opus no. 558), installed in 1915, with 92 ranks, a 5-manual fixed console and a 4-manual movable console (added in 1931). Among the many events that took place in this venue was the annual

Shrine Circus The Shrine Circus is a circus founded in Detroit, Michigan on Woodward Avenue in 1906. It travels to roughly 120 cities per year in the United States and a separate unit travels to about 40 in Canada. It is affiliated with the former Ancient Ara ...

. Additionally,

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

used the Medinah Temple for The

Bozo Bozo or bozo may refer to: People *Bozo people, a fishing people of the central Niger delta in Mali ** Bozo language, languages of the Bozo people * Frédéric Bozo, history Professor at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle * Bozo Mille ...

25th Anniversary Special (telecast live September 7, 1986). The fine acoustics of the Medinah Temple's auditorium made it a favorite site for recording. Many of the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

's most famous recordings from the late 1960s (for

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

with then-music director

Jean Martinon Jean Francisque-Étienne Martinon (usually known simply as Jean Martinon (); 10 January 19101 March 1976) was a French conductor and composer. Biography Martinon was born in Lyon, where he began his education, going on to the Conservatoire ...

) through the 1980s (for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

with then-music director Sir

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

) were recorded there. World-renowned conductor

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

recorded Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the CSO there in February, 1976. The music to ''

Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the 38th Disney animated feature film and ...

'' was recorded at the Medinah Temple auditorium from 1994 to 1996. The auditorium also contained a five-manual, 92 rank pipe organ,

Austin Organs Austin Organs, Inc., is a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Hartford, Connecticut. The company is one of the oldest continuously-operating organ manufacturers in the United States. The first instruments were built in 1893 with the Austin Patent ...

Opus 558, installed in 1915. The instrument was the first five-manual instrument built by the firm and one of the largest in the city. It was controlled by a five-manual gallery console and a movable four-manual console. In March 2001 the City Council approved funding to remove the organ for eventual donation to a non-profit organization. The instrument was re-installed in St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in Old Mill Creek, Illinois. Beginning in late 2000, the Medinah Shriners left the building, the exterior of the building was restored and the interior gutted and reconstructed for use as retail space. It was designated a

Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, archite ...

on June 27, 2001. It used to be occupied by

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

Home and Furniture Store, which opened in 2003. As of June 2019, Bloomingdale's parent company,

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

, has sold the building to Chicago developer, Al Friedman. The store vacated the building in September 2020. It was reported on May 5, 2022 that the Medinah Temple would host a temporary casino as part of the

Bally's Chicago Bally's Chicago is an upcoming casino resort that will be built in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. In May 2022, Mayor Lori Lightfoot approved Bally's Corporation's bid to construct a casino complex in the city. The complex will be ...

casino bid that was approved by Chicago Mayor

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as ...

. The proposal still needs approval from the Chicago City Council and Illinois Gaming Board, so it is unknown when this temporary casino would open for business.

References

External links

Conversion of the Medinah Temple from auditorium to retail space

Property owner's webpage for Medinah Temple

Medinah Shriners
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Chicago Former Masonic buildings in Illinois Chicago Landmarks Moorish Revival architecture in Illinois Theatres completed in 1912 1912 establishments in Illinois Shriners