MEP Engineers: HMS Engineering
Raven moved into their new home, a former grocery store, in the summer of 2002. The column-free space was carved into two theaters - a 160-seat main stage and a 60-seat studio space - that are acoustically isolated from each other. The large storefront windows that used to be filled with ads for produce and meat now allow passersby to peer into the new lobby space. The original inventory and loading wing is now used for support space, including dressing rooms, office space, and storage.
“It may be the prosaic home of the Certified Grocery Store, but the two-story building has been turned by the noted Chicago theater architect John Morris into a two-theater complex that cannot help but raise the Raven’s profile and give this tiny troupe one of the nicest and most practical venues for theater on Chicago’s North Side.”
- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, August 18, 2002