Neighborhood News: Jefferson Park’s Copernicus Center is a gateway to Polish culture, music and arts
From a lavish, “acoustically perfect” movie theater in 1930 to an internationally acclaimed venue for Polish music and dance shows & other ethnic arts, the Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Avenue, remains a mecca of entertainment for Chicagoans and visitors.
In the Beginning…
As Wikipedia sources discuss, the Gateway Theatre opened as a flagship theater for the new ‘talking pictures’ in the movie industry. Ceilings and walls were designed and hand painted in a maze of connected Greek/Roman scenes of Deities and custom patterns by noted Chicago artist Louis Grell (1887–1960). However, the design group hedged their bets: If the “talkies” were just a fad, the sound stage could easily be replaced with a full stage house with a complement of dressing rooms, proper rooms, and space for the scenery.
All the Chicago daily newspapers covered the theatre’s opening. The Chicago Herald-Examiner proclaimed The Gateway as “the most acoustically perfect theatre in the world.” The owners of the Gateway, the Balaban and Katz movie theater chain, were pleased.
Over the next four-plus decades, the theater enjoyed life as a first-run movie theatre northwest of the city. Wikipedia notes that The Gateway had perhaps its wildest days in 1973 when 45,000 patrons packed the old place weekly for an extended run of The Exorcist.
Becoming the Copernicus Center
As time marched on, and the neighborhood searched for first-run movies in suburban malls or multiplex settings, the Gateway became available for redevelopment. Throughout the 20th Century, Polish immigrants had settled along what became the ‘Polish Triangle’ at the intersection of Milwaukee and Ashland Avenues. later became known as ‘Polish Downtown,’ near the Gateway Theatre.
Enter The Copernicus Foundation, founded by Poles in Chicago in 1971 to raise funds towards a monument for the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus in front of the Adler Planetarium. After dedicating the monument in 1973, the Polish-American community decided to use leftover funds towards the purchase of a cultural and civic center for Chicago’s Polonia. In 1977, opportunity met preparation in the now shuttered Gateway Theatre. The Copernicus Foundation raised the money for remodeling the theatre, keeping the acoustically perfect, 1852-seat theater, while dividing the original 40-foot entry lobby and constructing three floors of office, meeting room and classroom space for the Cultural Center. The Baroque spire is a replica of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The building was dedicated in 1979.
Today, the Copernicus Center hosts small to large scale events and concerts, theatre, educational workshops, culturally diverse activities, as well as community engagement. They are also home to the LARGEST Polish music fest, Taste of Polonia Festival, held annually in September on Labor Day Weekend.
Upcoming Events:
Musical concerts, plays, athletic competitions, seminars, dance recitals, children’s plays, choir competitions, and Candidates’ Nights are just some of the many programs presented in the theater.
On September 19, the Copernicus Center hosts a pioneer in the fields of electronic music, progressive rock, music videos, computer software, and Internet music delivery in all-round rock legend Todd Rundgren, creator of such a hits as “We Gotta Get You a Woman,” “Hello It’s Me,” “I Saw the Light” and many others. For a complete list of events, click here.
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
