“The rich stone edifice of Thalia Hall is a lot to take in, consisting of four stories of columns and arches, limestone and an unintended visual pun running along the top of the first floor. The structure is a ribbon of stone in a checkerboard pattern that was built as a Czech social and artistic hub. There’s also the carved lettering of the building’s name, which honors Thalia, a muse of comedy and poetry in Greek mythology.
“Built in 1892, Thalia was one of several focal points of the city’s Czech population, which was booming at the time in Pilsen, a Southwest Side neighborhood named for a city in the Czech Republic. Within a few blocks of Thalia are other handsome old buildings that housed Czech institutions. For example, St. Procopius Church stands right across 18th Street, and two ‘sokols,’ or gyms, are at 1436 W. 18th St. and 1812 S. Ashland Ave.
“They’re all substantial buildings, but by far the most beautiful is Thalia Hall. Architecture firm Faber & Pagels, reportedly modeled it after an opera house in Prague, but they also made it a distinctly Chicago building with its rough textured limestone and corner turret. Beneath that turret and elsewhere all along the building are clusters of miniature columns the architects also used on a red brick building a few miles north at Huron and Noble streets.
“Thalia Hall was a popular gathering place under Dusek. In 1895, 2,000 women and men came to hear speakers on the work and advancement of women. That same year, a famous Shakespearean actor from Prague staged a production of Romeo and Juliet entirely in the Bohemian Language. In 1898, Chicago’s Hungarian community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the country’s revolution at the hall.
“Inside Thalia Hall, the auditorium on floors two to four is as lavish as the exterior, with a tin ceiling with stained glass windows laid flat into it and a miniature dome at the center that may have housed a glittering chandelier. The wrap-around balcony and six opera boxes have opulent decorative trim, and all around the proscenium are decorative plaster details, a mix of original pieces and new copies of them.
“In 2014, as restoration was getting started, Finkelman led a video tour where he said ‘it would be irresponsible of us to come in and slap a coat of paint’ over all that detail to hide its damaged and decayed condition. Instead, he wanted to ‘just let the history show. The beauty in this place is nothing we could re-create.'” (Rodkin and Schwabe, WBEZ Chicago, 8/5/24)
Hear and read the full story at WBEZ Chicago
- What’s That Building? Thalia Hall; Now a concert venue, this Pilsen building has a history as a gathering place for ethnic communities, and theater for movies and Shakespeare plays, Dennis Rodkin and Ethan Schwabe, WBEZ Chicago, 8/5/24
- Open House Chicago Thalia Hall