[VIDEO] I'm sorry to have shared this with you all much later as this is old news. How many of you are glad that our local movie house on 87th is back open. That facility has gone from being ICE Theaters, Chatham 14 Theaters, Studio Movie Grill and now Cinema Chatham powered by Emagine. It has gone through many ownership changes since 2012.
It re-opened this past weekend as Cinema Chatham and this story by Jim Williams shows their first day back in action having been closed over the past year due to the pandemic. We learned this past spring that Studio Movie Grill who owned this venue since 2014 will not be returning to this location.
With the excitement of the Chatham Theaters reopening, it's in the news that they're also looking to bring a restaurant to the theater in the future. This is according to Wendell Hutson at Chicago Business Journal which unfortunately is behind a paywall.
Also they're hiring up there if anyone is looking. There are about 70 employees there and they are looking hire people aged 16 & up.
Also shoutout to Harlan Falcon Bryan who we see is the General Manager for the Cinema Chatham.
Per comments on Worlee Glover's Concerned Citizens of Chatham and also info he's received from the regional manager at Studio Movie Grill the former Chatham 14 Theaters will soon be under new management. It won't be permanently closed, however, it will be available for a new buyer.
Chatham’s Studio Movie Grill, the luxury entertainment complex that brought upscale dining, fancy menus and food delivery service to movie goers on the South Side, is closed for good.
Five months after the national chain filed for bankruptcy, a spokesman for the Studio Movie Grill last week confirmed plans not to reopen the Chatham location after it was temporarily closed because of the pandemic.
“All SMG theaters remain under review, but SMG Chatham isn’t currently part of our re-opening plan,” said Lynne McQuaker, senior director of public relations and outreach for Studio Movie Grill. “Whenever possible, it’s our intent to reopen these shuttered theaters. We will share updates publicly as we have them available.”
A former manager of SMG in Chatham told the Crusader that employees last November were given a letter, informing them of the facility’s permanent closure.
The multi-screen movie theater at 210 W. 87th St. temporarily closed in March 2020 days after Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a statewide stay-at-home order during the pandemic. The Chatham location was among many Studio Movie Grill facilities in U.S. cities that imposed similar COVID-19 restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease.
Would be very disappointed if this longtime stable and venue in our community is shuttered longer than this pandemic. Also in general the movie industry is struggling because of this pandemic as we saw recently Arclight which operated a movie theater near North/Clyborn has shuttered along with the rest of the company as noted in the above article.
Here's hoping SMG comes out of bankruptcy and will reopen our longtime movie house.
Chains such as Regal Cinemas, AMC Theatres, and even the Showplace Icon on Roosevelt have since reopened back in August. Some of you may have seen the latest anticipated release Tenet starring John David Washington - he's the son of the legendary Denzel Washington - and directed by Christopher Nolan who you may know from the The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception to name a few big ticket releases he's made.
Well what's happening to Regal Cinemas who does have two locations within the city limits aren't much different from what other chains are doing. The Logan Theater announced that they were closing after reopening. Another chain with a few locations within the area Classic Cinemas earlier this summer announced that they were closing temporarily. And as of Thursday, yesterday, Regal Cinemas will again shut down operations temporarily.
The concern is that there aren't movies available to get people out of the house as much as it might be the continuing restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. I'm sure there is a reason why the 87th theaters remain close and it's exactly those two factors.
As a matter of fact if you're a James Bond fan you were probably anticipating that release in the near future. Unfortunately it has been pushed back due to this pandemic. Originally it was supposed to have been released in the spring when these stay-at-home orders were in effect, then it was supposed to have been released during this summer, then the fall, and now it has been pushed back into next year.
As I've stated over the past summer and it's true now, people want to get out of the house. Now is the time for entertainment. Thankfully we've finally gotten out of this tumultuous summer and at least so far this week in fall the weather has been nice.
Also stated at some point on this blog, this pandemic is temporary. We should continue to take our precautions with this tricky virus. I shared a video from the state about wearing face masks, my expectation is that we won't be doing that forever. I wish we could flick a switch and this pandemic is over.
As far as the 87th theaters, I'm looking to see what's going on with them. If you have any updates feel free to share.
This is probably no surprise to you if you paid a visit to the Studio Movie Grill theaters at 210 E. 87th Street as recently as Friday that the theaters are temporarily closed as a result of the coronavirus.
This is probably industry wide as I see that AMC Theatres and Kerasotes (Showplace Icon) have for the moment closed their locations in light of this coronavirus pandemic. At least AMC was speaking of limiting admissions to their screens at 50% capacity to encourage social distancing (which is to help to stem the spread of this virus). Of course authorities around the nation were issuing guidelines limiting how many people can gather in one place right now the government is limiting groups larger than 50 people.
So either way if you enjoy movies too bad about going to the show especially up to 87th Street, however, hopefully many of you are ready to take advantage of any streaming options. Which is especially key if you have to stay-at-home through April 7, 2020.
What is terrible is that many of the people who staff these venues wherever they're employed will be temporarily out of work until Studio Movie Grill, AMC Theatres, Kerasotes, etc will eventually re-open for business. I do hope that this will happen in the near future.
If you're wondering about the Harper Theater in Hyde Park at 5238 S. Harper Ave they're also closed for the time being. You will go to their website and a message regarding COVID-19 will come up explaining their closure.
For the first time in years I went to the SMG Chatham theaters. I met up with fellow Sixth Ward blogger JP Paulus (whose birthday also fell on December 14th) to check out the newly renovated theaters. If you know the history the Chatham 14 was opened in 1997 under the ownership of ICE Theaters and managed in the beginning day to day by a company known as Cineplex Odeon. Of course as of 2014 the local cineplex is owned by Studio Movie Grill (SMG) and renovations were completed in 2017.
Usually I'm a matinee guy and always have been. But in meeting with JP Paulus on our respective birthday for the release of Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse I was going to the show later than normal. I had no idea according to JP that the concession stand would be closed by 6:30 PM. If you want food even if it was typical theater treats such as candy, popcorn or soft drinks you'd have to order them through a server in your respective auditorium.
I realized once I got to my auditorium that I needed to change my seat. I'm probably like a lot of theater goers don't like people sitting in front of you or don't want to sit near anyone. It was a seamless process by cashier in the box office area. Of course if you buy your tickets only you can just walk to a kiosk and use a bar code on your phone to get physical tickets.
What's I've also learned is that there will always be people who like to come to the theater at the last minute to buy tickets. Not complaining I'm often the same way and I'd prefer to pay for cash to buy movie tickets of course can't do that online. I was surprised that as I waited to change my seats in box office how gradually the line got longer and longer for those last minute moviegoers.
At least on this Friday evening the business wasn't great, it was a lightly attended night at least for the Spider-man film. I got some sliders to eat and they were great. The film was also great and to be sure it's a great movie to watch with your family or with children. It's a computer animated comic book film that often feels as if it was lifted from the pages of Marvel Comics.
Let's not forget that in the lobby is a full service bar where you could hang out before or after your movie. Perhaps you just want to drop in and not see a movie. It's there and probably a perfect place to watch the Oscars during that particular season of the year. There are big screen TVs at the bar.
If I have to rate this place, I'd give it 4 stars out of 5. I've been a customer of the Chatham 14 for years even through all the changes in the 21 years it has been in operation. I could say something about the seats in front of us in my auditorium that were covered in tarp because the roof leaked. I will also say I like how they stretched out the auditorium so that the servers could do their jobs. It seems as if they took out a row of seats to accommodate the vision of a full service dine-in movie theater.
Also I had no idea that you could pick up a menu where the greeter used to be. Usually a person that rips your tickets would be located in the hallway just before going to your respective auditorium. It was very easy to find your reserved seating as seats are lettered and numbered.
As stated in another post last year and again in our year end round-up. You need not go downtown to either Showplace Icon or AMC Block 37 Dine-In theaters to get the same amenities you get get at 210 W. 87th Street. Unlike at those two downtown theaters with similar amenities you don't have to pay to park on 87th Street.
BTW, shout out to Harlan Falcon Brian who was one of the managers on duty on that evening.
Got this e-mail with a flyer to be posted below about an event this coming weekend at Studio Movie Grill Chatham on 87th.
NursingInspired🏾 is intentionally hosting an event during National Nurses Week 2018, as an effort to increase interest in the career of Nursing among underrepresented youth in Chicago!
The launch of Chatham Center Chicago last Wednesday gave me the opportunity to check out the new SMG Chatham 14 on Wednesday. Didn't get a chance to catch a show there on this day, however, I was there for that program and saw a lot of changes to the lobby since before the many changes that were finally complete last spring.
The last time I came to watch a movie here was in 2014 for the Seth Rogen & Zac Efron comedy Neighbors. At that point there was still no bar in what used to be the lobby and things really look the some from since the theaters ownership under ICE Theatres.
Bar in lobby SMG Chatham
Then I see the changes to the concession stand, a kitchen where the video games used to be, of course the bar and seating in the lobby, a stage where the fabled & often closed Chatham Grill used to be, and also there were more games in the hallway towards the auditoriums those are gone now. Now the theater is truly a great place to come watch a movie.
Hallway to auditoriums
Think about it, for those amenities you can expect to get in downtown Chicago such as AMC Dine-in Block 37 or Kerasotes Theatres Showplace Icon one needs not go that far. Just come to 210 W. 87th Street and you can have those same downtown amenities. Not just the bar, food service in the auditorium during the movie, reserved seating, even purchasing advance tickets online.
Purchasing tickets online is especially key for when the next hot release from the Marvel Cinematic Universe Black Panther hits theaters around the country February 16, 2018.
BTW, I know that with this new Chatham Center moving forward SMG Chatham is poised to be one of the main businesses. And I promise to come here every once in a while to watch a movie. Or perhaps come in and try some of the menu offerings also.
Happy new years everyone a few things happened and one big story we'll talk about at length here. Of course that will make this year end post unusual this year. 2017 has certainly been an interesting year - especially since this blog has been publishing for 10 years. Here's looking towards 2018 and the promise the new year offers.
Reading the archived ICE Theaters website their three theaters were open for business on November 24, 1997. Meanwhile 20 years later we discuss some history and ultimately the future.
In October, Worlee Glover at Concerned Citizens of Chatham marked the occasion in the 1990s when Donzell & Alisa Starks - the couple who owns ICE Theaters - approached the community about opening their facility in Chatham. It's noted that while there have been many changes to the theater since opening in 1997 one aspect of their vision remains - we still need not have to go too far from our neighborhood to catch the latest Hollywood releases.
Wanting to see Tomorrow Never Dies - a James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan - it was nice to not have to drive to the then General Cinemas and current AMC Theatres at Ford City to catch a movie. Just drive up the Dan Ryan to 87th Street to catch a show. It was something my mother and I had done faithfully for years. The Chatham community has a history of successful Black-owned businesses which included Seaway Bank and it was also cool that this theater was Black owned even if day-to-day management were actually performed by Cineplex-Odeon at the time.
Saturday, November 18th. Come join SMG Chatham as we host a free LIVE watch party of Saturday Night Live to support our friend and community partner, Chance the Rapper. He’s done so much for our community, so let's rally around him and celebrate his successes. Doors open at 9:00 pm with DJ performance in the lobby from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm.
UPDATE 11:25 AM - I apologize, failed to give this post a title!
7054 S. Jeffrey Blvd
Through NextDoor I found a DNA Info article regarding Alisa Starks making a pitch to the South Shore community regarding the former Urban Partnership Bank branch located at 7054 S. Jeffrey Blvd. It sounds like a good plan:
Alisa Starks, who developed movie theaters in Lawndale and Chatham, has been brought in by Monroe Investments to revive the bank at 7054 S. Jeffery Blvd. that closed in 2014.
At a 5th Ward meeting Tuesday at the South Shore Cultural Center, Starks presented a rough idea for the 46,000-square-foot bank that included a four-screen movie theater on the main floor, a six-lane bowling alley in the basement and a kid-friendly restaurant and play area on the second floor.
“It’s designed to be a boutique theater, think Hyde Park’s Harper Theater,” said Starks, who said she was alerted to the bank’s potential by one of her South Shore neighbors.
She said the first floor would also include a Cajun restaurant called Odessa with live jazz and blues run by the chef from the now-closed Epiphany Bistro in Lincoln Park.
The former UPB branch - and longtime hq for the defunct Shorebank - had been closed since 2014. The space also includes the facade of the former Jeffrey Theater. It would be very cool to redevelop that site and it could be a movie theater again and revive this corner now that a important business anchor had left. There's just one problem.
This article is almost two years old. Published in August 2015 and during that month Starks' ICE Theaters had filed for bankruptcy. Of course this is not to say this wouldn't be a successful venture and that this project genuinely caught the entrepreneurial eye of Ms. Starks.
Not mentioned in this article was ICE Theaters other than the fact that the Chatham 14 was sold by the Starks and ultimately that venue is under the ownership and banner of Studio Movie Grill. So no indication of this development on Jeffrey becoming an outpost for ICE Theaters.
Now, it's about to be summer 2017, which is the expected opening date for this venue. One wonders if there are any further updates about this development or even a grand opening. In the meanwhile it's safe to say this space remains shuttered and there is also a shuttered grocery store just across the street still looking for a tenant.
Finally here's a recent picture of 71st/Jeffrey taken from the J14 bus on the way to downtown Chicago. I could be wrong but there's no evidence of any development here. Perhaps Ms. Starks wasn't able to make this development happen during the course of the last two years.
Another press release from Studio Movie Grill Chatham. A series of events to celebrate the grand re-opening of our long-time local movie house which from 2012 onwards has gone through a couple of ownership changes. Now, it's featuring a brand new concept.
The concept you see above have come slowly, but has finally become reality according to this press release from Studio Movie Grill regarding our local movie house. And also this ig post we shared around Oscar time.
Having been under the ownership of Studio Movie Grill for three years we've been anticipating a refurbishment that will drastically change the theater with a bar, restaurant, new seats in the auditoriums, and even restaurant service in the auditoriums.
I haven't patronized the theater in a number of years, but it's time to check out some of the changes that we knew were coming for years under new ownership.
As you see in this IG post below, this is how the lobby looked during the Sunday night Oscar telecast.
Our local Theater, the Studio Movie Grill Chatham 14 Theaters , according to the website, doesn't seem to be showing the movie Hidden Figures this Sunday.
This is puzzling because Chatham 14 hosted an event in September to celebrate the movie "Queen of Katwe". Now, that event was organized by an outside group, but certainly made my family proud to be there, and to see various African cultures (as well as chess playing) being celebrated all over the theater.
Now, with the renovations for becoming at true Studio Movie Grill facility have now taken over the lobby, I understand they couldn't do much. But surely they could have a flat movie display, with some homemade signs that say thing like "Future genius" or "Junior Mathematician".
Or even simpler -- just have it up on the website's schedule (under "Coming Soon") and allow for some advance ticket purchases. I was going to tell others to buy tickets for a certain show, but nothing was available. Many seats have bene changed over, so seating now is limited, and you have to arrive early in order to get good seating, so simply meeting at the theater for a certain show might not be practical.
If the company did any research, they should know that movies of African-American significance and/or interest are often sold out at opening weekend. Despite the construction, this would have been an excellent public relations opportunity.
Instead, if the "Coming Soon" is accurate, it might actually be a lighter weekend than usual, with $5 Tuesday possibly being a stronger day.
A few stories that come to mind to wrap up the year 2016.
The Red Line extension to 130th street is moving forward. A draft environmental impact statement was submitted and there was a recent hearing regarding this future project. We also learned the extension may not open until 2026 at the earliest. But at least some progress is being made and the major step that need to be taken is funding.
A photo posted by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on
We learned of the passing of Mr. Donzell Starks in October. Starks and his wife Alisa - or it appears the Starks' have at some point divorced - owned ICE Theaters which had owned and operated theaters in Chatham, Englewood and Lawndale. Chatham is now under Studio Movie Grill and no longer owned by ICE Theaters as of 2014. Both Englewood and Lawndale are closed. Around the time of Stark's death, I found through a Google search an article that reported that ICE Theaters had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015.
I'll also add that posting an image of Donzell Starks such as the one you saw above to Instagram resulted in 33 likes. Some of those may not have been from people who knew who he was, but many of them probably admired him as an entrepreneur that brought back a needed business to our communities.
Also the long awaited Whole Foods Market at 63rd & Halsted opened in late September to huge fanfare. It opened in the new Englewood Square shopping center which also opened a Starbuck's that opened the same day as the Whole Foods. In addition after the Whole Foods and Starbuck's open within about a month Englewood saw a Chipotle's open at Englewood Square.
Speaking of Whole Foods Market it was announced in spring 2016 that they're bringing a distribution center to 111th Street near the Wal-Mart Supercenter. It will count the new Methods plant and Gotham Greens as neighbors. In November an event to hire was advertised to help people who currently have a trade to work on this project.
Back in Chatham, the building that houses Pride Cleaners is for sale. It's considered an example of mid modern architecture and considered something of a landmark located near 79th & Rhodes. It was inspiration as the Chatham brand for The Chicago Neighborhoods.
A photo posted by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on
Also after celebrating 50 years in 2015, it came out in the news that local lender Seaway Bank is in trouble in 2016. Here's hoping for a different result in 2017 for this significant Black-owned bank. The post above from Seaway's early days 50 years ago got 54 likes when it was reposted from Seaway's own ig profile.
Finally we had a presidential election and with Donald Trump as the President-elect there are many who are unhappy. The former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton solidly won this state and its electoral votes. In the rest of the country she won the popular vote, however, failed to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Presidency. There have been protests in downtown Chicago since the election.
Of course as far as politics, there will be a new State's Attorney in Cook County in Kim Foxx. She defeated two-term incumbent Anita Alvarez in the March 2016 Democratic Primary. Alvarez's defeat was attributed in part to the controversial police shooting in 2014 of one Laquan McDonald and her role in the suppression of the dashcam video of this incident.
Any other stories worth noting from 2016, feel free to let us know about them in our comments.
To be transparent, I edited the post regarding the death of ICE Theaters owner Donzell Starks that had been published earlier this month. The reason why is because there was no need to be stuck in some negativity as I realize there are a few people who might still mention the "hostile takeover" of the Chatham 14 from over four years ago.
Originally when the blog post was published - and before any editing - was the inclusion of a link to a Crain's article from August 2015. It showed that ICE Theaters - or referred to as a Donzell Starks venture - had filed for bankruptcy. Starks' untimely demise was clearly a shock, but finding this article looking for any published reports in the mainstream media of Donzell's death was also a shock.
From 1997 to 2012, the Chatham theaters had been owned and operated by ICE Theaters. Then after a business dispute ICE moved to the ICE Theaters Lawndale 10 as their company headquarters. I called the showtimes phone number sometime in 2014 as I saw that the official company FB page had stopped updating- save for one random post regarding Serena Williams. Learned at that time that the Lawndale facility had been closed in December 2013 open only for private events.
At this point it's a sad end for a company with a significant legacy. As noted in Crain's, ICE Theaters beat a bid by Magic Johnson to open three movie theaters in minority neighborhoods. Also the Starks owned Meridian which operated theaters in and around downtown Chicago which unfortunately didn't survive. Many of them were originally Cineplex-Odeon theaters.
Even during all the controversy over the Chatham after the events of October 2012 it's often noted the legacy of the Starks bringing movie theaters back to under served neighborhoods in our city.
On Monday, we've learned that Donzell Starks - one of the owners of ICE Theaters with his wife Alisa Starks - has passed away. According to a fb status shared on Concerned Citizens of Chatham he died due to pancreatic cancer.
Also in that same status Alisa was referred to as his ex-wife, unsure if that could be verified independently of social media.
One of the main stories we covered during the past four years revolves around the change in ownership of the Chatham 14 Theaters. With a business dispute causing ICE Theaters to be evicted from the Chatham and operations taken over by new ownership. Currently, the Chatham is owned by the Texas based company Studio Movie Grill.
In 1997 ICE Theaters built and opened theaters in Chatham, Englewood, and Lawndale bringing movie theaters back into inner city neighborhoods. He without a doubt leaves behind a significant legacy that hopefully other entrepreneurs in our communities will also do something as groundbreaking.
This Sunday, both Greater Chatham Alliance and West Chesterfield Community Association are selling tickets for "Southside with you" a movie inspired by Barack and Michelle Obama's first date. Southside with you recounts the eventful summer days of 1989 when a charming law associate named Barack Obama tries to WOO reluctant attorney Michelle Robinson during daylong date that take them from Art Institute of Chicago to a Spike Lee's Screening of Do the Right Thing to a first kiss outside of a Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Parlor.
The movie is showing Chatham 14 Theaters - 210 West 87th Street, Chicago, IL 60620
The movie is rated PG-13, and $20 for adults and $15 for kids.
