CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has given preliminary approval to landmark designation for the historic Apollo’s 2000 Theater in Little Village.
The ornate theater, with a terra cotta facade on the 2800 block of West Cermak, was built in 1917. It was previously the Marshall Square Theater. It's still in use as a performance and event space and has been owned by Javier and Lidia Galindo for 35 years.
It’s also a part of the Chicago Architectural Tour.
“You could see the awe…and their face when they walk in, and oftentimes the comment is, ‘We didn’t even know this existed,” Lidia Galindo recently said at a landmark commission meeting .
“While many of our downtown movie palaces have thankfully found new life as Broadway theaters or concert venues, these neighborhood movie palaces continue to disappear,” Preservation Chicago’s Max Chavez said.
Landmark designation for the theater faces more hurdles, but it would help the owners pay for restoration work.
“A designation as a landmark not only will help us to preserve the building but will also bring the recognition that this building deserves,” Lidia said.
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