Balaban and Katz Uptown Theatre

Uptown Theatre (also known as Balaban and Katz Uptown Theatre) is a massive, ornate movie palace located in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Rapp and Rapp and built by Paschen Bros. contractors, it one of the many movie palaces built by the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaban and their partner Sam Katz. The largest remaining in Chicago, it boasts 4,381 seats and its interior volume is said to be larger than any other movie palace in the United States, including Radio City Music Hall in New York. It occupies over of land at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Broadway in Chicago's Uptown Entertainment District. The mammoth theater has an ornate five story entrance lobby with an eight story façade. Rehabilitation efforts are needed to restore and reopen this historic Chicago landmark, which has been closed to regular audiences since 1981.