One of the glories of the legendary architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan stands at 50 East Congress Parkway in the South Loop of Chicago. The Auditorium Building of Roosevelt University, a historic landmark since 1975, may have given up its title as the tallest building in the United States long ago, but it has not given up its striking effect.
The building was commissioned in 1886 with the intention of becoming the largest, grandest theater in the world, rivaling the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. The Auditorium Theater was complete in 1889 with an imposing external structure with load-bearing outer walls that impose its will on those passing by. The building held 4,300 seats in an auditorium, a hotel, and an office building.
The very cornerstone was laid by the President of the United States of the time, Grover Cleveland and was the location where Benjamin Harrison was nominated for president. The Auditorium has had an impressive history with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as the location where Teddy Roosevelt delivered his Bull Moose speech in 1912, played host to the Civic Opera House, and served as a World War II servicemen’s center.
Now the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre has been restored and reborn into the epicenter of the Theater district and has inspired the restoration of the surrounding theaters as well.
By 1946 Roosevelt University moved into the Auditorium Building, but the theater would remain untouched until 1967 when it re-opened. Tickets for rock groups like The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who performed were sold. Despite improvements like central air conditioning, the theater was not restored until 2001.
Now the Auditorium Theatre stands as a tremendous landmark that reminds Chicagoans and tourists of the position the city once held as the pinnacle of architecture. The theater fills its schedule and its seating charts with traveling shows of all kinds through the year.
Auditorium Theatre Address:
50 E. Congress Pkwy
Chicago, IL 60605
