A private security guard working at the Jefferson Park CTA Terminal, 4917 N. Milwaukee Ave., reportedly returned fire after a group of three people started harassing him and then fired read story
Portage Theater slated to reopen on June 14
by BRIAN NADIG
The Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., is scheduled to re-open June 14, a year after the owner of the building closed it to find a new operator.
Building owner Eddie Carranza reportedly has turned over operation of the theater to Charlie Burns of the Xblu marketing company. Carranza also owns the Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave., and he has been trying to sell that theater after it was closed by the city due to liquor license and building code violations.
Last year Carranza purchased the Portage Theater’s management company, but there was doubt whether the city would allow that the theater’s licenses to be transferred to him because of his problems at the Congress. Alderman John Arena (45th) said that he would oppose the transfer of the Portage’s liquor and public place of amusement licenses to Carranza until he demonstrated that he could run the theater responsibly.
There are no licensing issues which would delay the opening of the Portage, according to the city Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. "All their licenses are valid," department spokeswoman Mika Stambaugh said. "They could open tomorrow.
The licenses are held by Finest Management LLC, of which Burns is the president and secretary, according to the department. A change of corporate officers on the theater’s liquor, amusement and food licenses was recently filed.
The theater’s licenses expired last August, but it remained closed during the grace period in which the licenses were being reinstated and then transferred to the corporation owned by Burns, who passed the department’s background test, Stambaugh said. "It’s in our department’s best interests to keep businesses open," she said.
Arena issued the following statement: "We’re working to make sure that Mr. Burns is aware of the expectations of the community, both in the type of programming that they will support and the type of behavior they expect from him and his patrons. We are cautiously optimistic.
"We look forward to the Portage Theater’s contribution to the resurgence of Six Corners. With new businesses and restaurants opening at a steady clip, that resurgence is already under way. A properly managed Portage Theater has the potential to propel that resurgence even further."
The theater will open with several shows on June 14, which is the first day of the annual "Six Corners BBQ Fest" that is in the Six Corners shopping district, Milwaukee and Cicero avenues and Irving Park Road. The events planned are a free comedy show at 4 p.m., a free silent movie presentation with live organ music at 6 p.m., and a performance by a Doors tribute band at 9 p.m., with tickets ranging from $10 to $15.
About 20 events, including several rock tribute concerts and classic movie presentations, are scheduled for the theater this summer.
The theater, which was built in 1920, has about 1,300 seats. Carranza also owns several other properties on the block.
The Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., is scheduled to reopen on June 14.
The theater, which was built in 1920, has been closed for a year. It will reopen during the annual "Six Corners BBQ Fest."
(Photo by Cyryl Jakubowski)
No Pop-Ups
Weekly Digital Edition
Read every story. Skip every pop-up.
Get the full weekly edition delivered to your inbox — no interruptions, no waiting. Just local news the way it was meant to be read.
Only $19.50/year — less than 38¢ a week
Subscribe Now
This is just part of today’s coverage. Get the full story - every article, every ad, every page. Subscribe now.
The Latest From Our Community
A man was stabbed in his hand at about 4:50 a.m. Monday, Aug. 10, on a CTA Blue Line train near the Harlem station, 5550 N. Harlem Ave., after a read story
by BRIAN NADIG 45th Ward Democratic Committeeperson Michael Rabbitt and his Dems 45 organization have endorsed Jefferson Park resident S Gronkiewicz-Doran in the ward’s aldermanic race, which will be held read story
by BRIAN NADIG A new business, possibly a daycare, is in the works for the former CVS Pharmacy at the southeast corner of Milwaukee and Lawrence avenues. The pharmacy closed read story
by BRIAN NADIG A possible suspect is in custody after gunfire was reported at or near the Jefferson Park CTA Terminal, 4917 N. Milwaukee Ave., at about 5:20 a.m. Saturday, read story
by BRIAN NADIG A luxury hotel and spa for cats is planned for a vacant one-story office building at 5510 W. Montrose Ave. in the Jefferson-Portage Park area. Local resident read story
Browse by Category
No Pop-Ups
Weekly Digital Edition
Read every story.
Skip every pop-up.
No pop-up ads — ever. Just stories, the way they were meant to be read
Full weekly edition delivered to your inbox every week — no waiting, no missing issues
Support local journalism and help keep our community connected
Only $19.50/year
That's less than 38¢ a week
Purchase Digital Subscription
Paypal
$19.50
/year
You can submit your payment via Paypal with a Credit Card. You DO NOT NEED TO HAVE A PAYPAL ACCOUNT.. Just click the “Paypal Subscribe” button below to iniate your secure payment! You will be directed to a Secure Paypal page in which you can pay with a Paypal account if you have one, or you can select "Pay with Debit or Credit Cardt" option below and process your payment via credit card.
Venmo
$19.50
/year
You can submit payment of $19.50 for a 1 year subscription to Nadig Newspapers' Venmo account using this link. Please include the email address in the comment/note section that you would like the digital subscription sent to.