The Palace Theater is a 1925 movie theater, now closed, located at 791 Broadway in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...

, in the city's Emerson neighborhood. It was designed by the prominent movie palace

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Eberson John Adolph Emil Eberson (January 2, 1875 – March 5, 1954) was an Austrian-American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style. He designed over 500 theatres in his lifetime, ea ...

History

The Palace Theater was built by Maximillian Dubois' construction company "Max and Sons", who also built the Marquette Park Pavilion in Gary. Construction began in 1924 and the theater opened a year later featuring live stage shows,

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts, and motion pictures. From the time it opened, the theater was one of the grandest venues in the town, but when the

US Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

plant in Gary went into decline, so did the rest of the town, including the historic theater. The theater slid into decline, and eventually shut down entirely in 1972. The abandoned theater has since come to be a common symbol of

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

, and is a frequent subject of photography and

urban exploration Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inter ...

. The exterior ornamentation has been largely picked away by scavengers, leaving gaping holes in the sides of the building.{{cite news , last=Klatt , first=Mary Beth , url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-03-12-0003120053-story.html , title=True Grit , work=Chicago Tribune , date=March 12, 2000 , access-date=July 8, 2021 In 1987, private investors planned to spend over $500,000 to renovate the theater and the nearby storefronts, but eventually abandoned the deal after the first restaurant opened was unsuccessful. When the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageant was held in Gary in 2002,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

renovated the front of the theater. Sheets of plywood covering the windows were painted to depict a false interior, and an external marquee was mounted, declaring "Jackson Five Tonite". Google Street View and the show Life After People: The Series (Season 1, Episode 2) show the marquee unchanged as of 2009. Plastic signs reading "Jackson Five Forever" were placed on both sides of the marquee after the

death of Michael Jackson On June 25, 2009, American singer Michael Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication at his home on North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. His physician, Conrad Murray, said tha ...

. Both signs have since been lost to the wind. In 2012 there is renewed interest in reviving the theater. Supporters of the Palace have established a page on Facebook to generate support for restoration of the theater.

Popular culture

The Palace Theater was used as an example for what could happen to a Chicago building in 30 years without humans providing maintenance and upkeep on Life After People: The Series (Season 1, Episode 2).

References

Matt Lambros Matthew Lambros (born February 8, 1985) is a former professional Canadian football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Toronto Argonauts in the second round of the 2009 CFL Draft. He played college football for the Liberty Flames. He attended ...

Palace Theater
on

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Cinemas and movie theaters in Indiana Movie palaces Buildings and structures in Gary, Indiana John Eberson buildings Theatres completed in 1925

History

Popular culture

References

External links