Column: New book looks at the history of the Uptown Theatre

It is just a building, of course, standing near the corner of Broadway and Lawrence Avenues in the city’s Uptown neighborhood, from which it takes its name. It has “lived” for 100 years, most of them spectacularly active, but for the last 40 years or so as quiet and lifeless as a tomb in St. Boniface Cemetery, which sits just to the west.

You might have noticed some of the notable 100th birthday celebrations, such as stories in print and radio and TV, and a Chicago History Museum exhibit that will run through Jan. 4, 2026.

Many of these focused on a new book, “The Uptown: Chicago’s Endangered Movie Palace” (CityFiles Press). It captures in words and photos (old and contemporary), vintage blueprints and programs, the building’s amazing history, but also serves as a call to action, an ar