historic south side chicago jeffery theater salvage will likely commence in the coming weeks

hopefully within the next week or two, we will be removing the staircase and massive chandelier from the south side chicago jeffery theater lobby. in addition to myself and job site staff, we will have a reporter, photographer and a film crew planted there to document the removal of the artifacts.

the focal point of course, will be the chandelier, which will involve scaffolding and heavy equipment to take it down. the chandelier will be lowered into a custom-built wood "cradle" supported by heavy duty casters for easier mobility from lobby to our truck's liftgate. stay tuned...

the jeffery theater was constructed in 1923 and opened a year later as a vaudeville and movie house for the cooney brothers circuit, which built and controlled some of the south side's plushest movie palaces, including, but not limited to, the chatham, hamilton, capitol, stratford, paradise, avalon, etc. when the depression set in, the cooney brothers lost their theaters into receivership, and the old lubliner and trinz circuit merged with balaban and katz, the only major chicago theater chain that survived. the neo-classical style, terra cotta clad theater was capable of seating nearly 1800 moviegoers. the architect on record was william p. doerr (other notable commissions by doerr included the neo-georgian style east park towers in the hyde park neighborhood and the neo-classical east elm apartments in the gold coast).

during the 1930's and 40's the jeffery was operated by the warner brothers under a movies-only policy from there on. the south shore landmark, with its massive vertical marquee, which could be seen up and down 71st street was partially demolished in the late 1990's. the facade and grand lobby avoided the wrecking ball, but at a price; the lobby interior was poorly maintained and essentially sealed off from the rest of the building, which included a bank and office (the site of the theater's auditorium became a vacant lot). despite the negligence that has befallen the lobby's interior, the ornamental cast iron staircase, plasterwork and a magnificent brass chandelier that hasn't been electrified for decades remain in great condition.