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American Blues Theater

  • Location: Chicago, Illinois
  • Completion: 2023
  • Project size: 10,000 sf
  • Consultants:

    Structural Engineer: Goodfriend Magruder Structure, LLC
    MEP Engineer: Element Energy Consulting LLC
    Theater Consultant: Schuler Shook
    Civil Engineering: Terra Engineering LTD
    Landscape design: Terra Engineering LTD
    Lighting Design: KSA/Morris Architects Planners
    General Contractor: Lo Destro Construction
    Acoustical Consultant: Talaske
    A/V Consultant: Talaske

Located in Chicago’s Arcadia Terrace neighborhood across the street from the Budlong Library, it includes a 137-seat proscenium theater, an 80-seat flexible studio theater, well-appointed dressing rooms, admin offices, and a multifunctional lobby space.

This adaptive reuse of a banal one-story retail building provides a model for creating robust cultural venues from the ubiquitous big box suburban blight. Construction was completed in November of 2023.