The Chicago "Green" Theater Coming Soon to the Chicago Near You...

The second Unit of my Urban Planning class was all about power. Meaning we learned about series circuits, parallel circuits, ohm's law, the war of currents, AC (alternating current), DC (direct current), coulomb's law, how to calcultate amps, watts and volts and many other things relating to electricity. We learned all of this while keeping in mind the question of sustainabilty and efficiency and how we can implement them into our cities to make them more green. By the end of this unit we were well informed on what made buildings more green and how we could more efficiently power them. So for our action project (AP) this unit we were to choose one building out of 10 choices given in the Chicago loop area and come up with ways we could make it more green. In order to choose our building we first had to get a feel for them and see which one spoke to us the most and so the junior class became tourists for a day. 

As we walked down the sidewalk to our first destination immidiatley a giant red sign with letters spelling Chicago caught my eye. It is a very different building from those around it having elaborate details egraved on it which easily catched on goers' eyes. I knew right away this was the building I would choose, a lavish, most likely expensive, and very much grandiose building. As I walked under the big sign I noticed that on one of the walls in the buildings entrance there was a Chicago Landmark plaque giving us insight on the history of this beautiful building and it only made me want to choose it more.

GCE Juniors AP 2, 2022, Hasnain Khundmiri

Chicago Landmark Plaque, 2022, AAG

As I started researching more about the Chicago Theater and its history the more intrigued I became by it  The inside lobby and auditorium fascinated me. The Chicago thater is located on 175 N State St, it was constructed in 1921 by the brothers George L. Rapp & Cornelius W. Rapp. Its main purpose is to provide a comfortable experience to the audience watching theater pieces. Around the time it was built, companies in America were leaning more towards making theaters a more comfortable experience for the audience.  Chicago wanted to build its own lavish theater and so in 1921 the Chicago theater opened as “the first large, lavish movie palace in America and was the prototype for all others” (MSG entertainment).

Chicago Theater, 2022, AAG 

Its significant design features include: 

• Electric sign with the letters C-H-I-C-A-G-O

• Neo-Baroque French-revival Style auditorium with a capacity of 3,880

• Grand Lobby inspired by the Versailles palace'

Chicago Thater Lobby, 2021, Madison Square Garden Entertainment

Chicago Theater, 2022, Style Chicago

There is no doubt the Chicago Theater deserves its place as part of Chicago's Landmarks.

Now that I had learned a lot more about its history it was time to ask the real questions, was the Chicago theater a green building? If not what are some ways we can make it more green? As I researched more about how the Chicago Theater gor its energy I could not find direct answers and so I assumed like almost all of Chicago the Chicago Theater gets its energy from the grid which is then distributed by Commonwealth Edison (also known as ComEd). According to the Illinois Environmental council, as of 2019 Illinois gets its energy from “7% natural gas, 30% coal-fired, 54% nuclear (most in the nation) and 10% renewables”. Most of the energy the Chicago Theater consumes is used on the lighting of the theater, air-conditioner in the summer, heating in the winter, and possibly water heaters. Personally, in my home we do not use electricity as much to light our house since we mostly rely on natural sunlight and only use lights during the short days in winter and late at night. Just like the Chicago theater we do use most of our electricity on heating in the winter and air conditioner in the summer.

Now it was time to identify ways the Chicago Theater could become more green. There are two possible ways I could think of. One way the Chicago theater can be more energy efficient is change their intillations to be more energy efficient. For example, they can change their light bulbs to LED energy efficient light bulbs to make sure they are not sending any to waste. They can also replace their central air conditioner with one that is more effective, same with heating. They can also insulate their windows to make sure that during the winter heat doesn't escape and during the summer the cooling does not escape either. Another less convenient way to make the Chicago Theater more green is installing solar panels or even a windmill to generate energy for the theater. This alternative would be less convenient as there is not much space available on the roof or around the theater to install solar panels. It can also be a safety concern if there was a windmill installed in the middle of the loop. Another problem arises when we take into consideration the fact that the theater is surrounded by other taller buildings that can often block sunlight from hitting the solar panels. The windmill would face similar problems regarding spacing but it would generate lots of power since Chicago is indeed a very windy city. In the end replacing and adding more energy efficient instlalations into the theater proves to be the most realistic and convinient solution to turn the Chicago theater more green.

In conclusion this AP was very fun to work on and I loved being able to learn about the history of one of Chicago's greates landmarks. I enjoyed putting on my tourists shows and walking around the city wiht my classmates exploting buildings I previously didn't even know existed and found that each had its own beauty and intriguing history. I was also challeneged to think more green and figure out a way to make the building I chose more sustainable and green which really challeneged me in an enjoyable way. I hope you enjoyed reading, thank you!

GCE Juniors Having A Good Time, 2022, Hasnain  Khundmiri

Sources and Works Cited

“Chicago Theatre Venue History.” Madison Square Garden, https://www.msg.com/the-chicago-theatre/history.

“Chicago Theatre.” Buildings of Chicago | Chicago Architecture Center, https://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/buildings-of-chicago/building/chicago-theatre/.

“Energy in Illinois.” Illinois Environmental Council, 2 Apr. 2020, https://ilenviro.org/energy/.

StyleChicago.com. “Chicago Theatre Marquee Tour - Architecure & History.” StyleChicago.com, 17 Dec. 2016, https://stylechicago.com/chicago-theatre-marquee-tour/.