The Palace Theater is a 1925

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

, now closed, located at 791 Broadway in

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

, in the city's Emerson neighborhood. It was designed by the prominent

movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. Wi ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Eberson John Adolph Emil Eberson (January 2, 1875 – March 5, 1954) was an Austrian-American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style. He designed over 500 theatres in his lifetime, e ...

History

The Palace Theater was built by Maximillian Dubois' construction company "Max and Sons", who also built the Marquette Park Pavilion in Gary. Construction began in 1924 and the theater opened a year later featuring live stage shows,

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

acts, and motion pictures. From the time it opened, the theater was one of the grandest venues in the town, but when the

US Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

plant in Gary went into decline, so did the rest of the town, including the historic theater. The theater slid into decline, and eventually shut down entirely in 1972. The abandoned theater has since come to be a common symbol of

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

, and is a frequent subject of photography and

urban exploration Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex, and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inte ...

. The exterior ornamentation has been largely picked away by scavengers, leaving gaping holes in the sides of the building.{{cite news , last=Klatt , first=Mary Beth , url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-03-12-0003120053-story.html , title=True Grit , work=Chicago Tribune , date=March 12, 2000 , access-date=July 8, 2021 In 1987, private investors planned to spend over $500,000 to renovate the theater and the nearby storefronts, but eventually abandoned the deal after the first restaurant opened was unsuccessful. When the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

pageant was held in Gary in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

renovated the front of the theater. Sheets of plywood covering the windows were painted to depict a false interior, and an external

marquee Marquee may refer to: * Marquee (overhang), a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building * Marquee (structure), a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel, theater, casino, train station, or similar building. * Pole marquee ...

was mounted, declaring "Jackson Five Tonite". Google Street View and the show Life After People: The Series (Season 1, Episode 2) show the marquee unchanged as of 2009. Plastic signs reading "Jackson Five Forever" were placed on both sides of the marquee after the

death of Michael Jackson On June 25, 2009, the American singer Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 50. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, said that he found Jackson in his bedroom at his North Carolwood Dr ...

. Both signs have since been lost to the wind. In 2012 there is renewed interest in reviving the theater. Supporters of the Palace have established a page on Facebook to generate support for restoration of the theater.

Popular culture

The Palace Theater was used as an example for what could happen to a Chicago building in 30 years without humans providing maintenance and upkeep on Life After People: The Series (Season 1, Episode 2).

References

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Cinemas and movie theaters in Indiana Former cinemas in the United States Movie palaces Buildings and structures in Gary, Indiana John Eberson buildings Theatres completed in 1925

History

Popular culture

References

External links