The Jeffery Theater is a vacant theater building at 1952 E. 71st Street, in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood.
| Jeffery Theater | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical[1] |
| Location | 1952 E. 71st St., Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41°45′58.8″N 87°34′36.3″W / 41.766333°N 87.576750°W |
| Completed | 1924 |
| Opened | 1925 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | William P. Doerr |
History
Designed by William P. Doerr, it was built in 1924 and opened in 1925 as a vaudeville and movie theater.[2][1][3] The building also housed the Spencer Arms Hotel, a fifty-room hotel to the west of the theater, while the Jackson Park National Bank was located at the corner of 71st and Jeffery.[2][4] The first floor of the Spencer Arms Hotel contained commercial space.[2]
The Jeffery Theater had a single screen and seating for 1,795 people and was originally part of the Cooney Brothers circuit.[1][3][5] It was operated by the Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. in the 1930s and 1940s.[3] The theater closed in 1977.[3] In the late 1990s, ShoreBank purchased the building, and remodeled the building's interior into office space, though a portion of the theater's lobby remains intact.[1][3] ShoreBank was closed as a failed institution in 2010.[1][6]
In 2014, Preservation Chicago listed the Jeffery Theater as one of Chicago's 7 most endangered buildings, as there were plans to demolish the building and build a McDonald's at the site.[1][7] In 2017, developers announced plans to demolish the building to build an entertainment complex, and on February 11, 2020, a demolition permit was requested.[8][9] The permit was placed on a 90-day hold, because the building is orange rated in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, signifying that it "possesses potentially significant architectural or historical features".[9][10]