Double Door

In November 2018, plans were announced to convert the former Wilson Avenue Theater into the new home of storied live music venue Double Door relocating from Wicker Park. Construction is expected to begin in Fall 2024. The Wilson Avenue Theater opened in 1909 as one of the first large venues in the Uptown neighborhood, showing two vaudeville performances nightly. It was designed by Henry L. Ottenheimer and built at a cost of $50,000 for the Jones, Linick, Shaefer circuit. The theater seated 600 on the main floor and 300 in the balcony. Acts from the American Music Hall in the Loop frequently performed there. In 1919, it was converted to a bank, changing ownership multiple times. The building last hosted a TCF Bank branch. The pre-renovation interior looks today like a cross between a theater and a bank.

Henry L. Ottenheimer