Historic Patio Theatre Set to Reopen

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on May 25, 2011 7:00PM

Most of the great original movie palaces around Chicago were torn down or chopped up long ago, and The Uptown is still mouldering away, but there are a few vintage venues still hanging on. Case in point: Portage Park's Patio Theater, built in 1927 but shuttered since 2001, will start showing movies again on Friday June 3. Thor, to be exact.

Gaper's Block has a fascinating account of the theater's history. The Patio (originally pronounced "pay-sho") was constructed as a mid-sized neighborhood theater with "only" 1500 seats. For decades it was a successful first- (and then second-) run theater before falling on hard times. It changed owners when Alexander Kouvalis, a commercial real estate broker, bought the building in 1987 for $380,000 in back property taxes. The theater closed in 2001 because of licensing issues and a broken a/c system. Fresh out of business school, Kouvalis' son Demetri has taken the reins as manager and now, after thousands of dollars of repairs and improvements, the Patio is back in business.

To start with the theater will only run newish fare, but Kouvalis is open to the idea of showing older films a few days a month, as well as some live acts. While we can't really get too excited about the prospect of watching Thor, paying only $5 for a ticket (the standard price at the Patio) is persuasive. And with summer's heat and humidity about to kick into overdrive, some sweet a/c might just be the convincer.

The Patio Theater is located at 6008 W. Irving Park Rd.