Music Halls in Chicago

Many of these music halls were built with the help of local concrete pumping companies. Most of the music halls shown here no longer exist, but there are a few that still do. Not all concrete pumping companies helped build these music halls, but many did.

The McVickers Theatre at Broadway and East Madison was built in 1910 from reinforced concrete. This theater was a popular place to see a show during World War I and served as a beacon for servicemen returning home on leave from Europe after the war ended in 1918. Unfortunately, it burned down in 1926.

The Chicago Theatre , located at 175 North State Street, is one of the most well known movie theaters in America today. It opened as a vaudeville house called “The Chicago” on Februaryth, 1921 and has been in continuous operation ever since. It’s well known for its “chocolate waterfall” and has hosted numerous famous performers, including the Three Stooges, who recorded a live performance there in 1943.

The Chicago Stadium opened in 1929 at Madison Street between West Roosevelt Road and West Harrison Street as the home of hockey’s Chicago Black Hawks. This building was used many other events besides hockey games, including circuses, boxing matches, political rallies, wrestling matches and rock concerts–most notably The Beatles on September 17th 1960. There were plans to build this arena with concrete supplied by Martin Marietta but it went bankrupt before it could happen so Marquette built the entire stadium itself using its own materials.