Thousands Flood Uptown for Historic Theatre Tours — Plus a College Milestone and a Cookbook Born in a Shelter Kitchen
By Socialhood News · Uptown ·
Uptown neighbors, the past few days have delivered a rush of good news worth savoring: a 45-year-old locked door finally swung open to massive crowds, a beloved community college marked seven decades of service, and a remarkable cookbook gave voice to some of the neighborhood's most resilient residents. Here is a look at three things that made Uptown shine this week.
**The Uptown Theatre Moment Everyone Will Be Talking About**
If you walked past 4816 N. Broadway on Saturday morning, you already know what happened. Thousands of Chicagoans lined up — some arriving before 8 a.m. — to step inside the Uptown Theatre for the first time in 45 years, as the storied movie palace opened its doors for Open House Chicago on October 17 and 18. The response was staggering. Lauren Bakos of the Chicago Architecture Center told WGN News, "I was here at 7:45 this morning and people were already starting to line up, so I'm guessing we're going to have at least five or 6,000 people through this site." Tours ran both days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with visitors admitted through the Broadway lobby and into the auditorium itself — the vast, ornate space that last hosted a live performance in 1981.
The outpouring of public interest carried its own message to the people working to restore the building. Visitor Lauren Richmon captured the sentiment many in line were feeling: "I'm hoping all the interest, as you can tell by the lines we have, is going to demonstrate that this is something that's part of our heritage and is worth preserving." That preservation effort still has a long road ahead. Bakos noted that approximately $200 million is needed to bring the theatre back to life, and owner Terrance Mickelson has said he is working to assemble a capital stack of funding and needs the city's help to close the gap. But after a weekend that drew thousands of neighbors and visitors into the building for the first time in a generation, the case for public investment has never felt more vivid or more urgent.
**Harry S. Truman College Turns 70**
While the Uptown Theatre was drawing weekend crowds, another Uptown institution quietly marked a milestone of its own. Harry S. Truman College — the City Colleges campus anchoring the neighborhood at 1145 W. Wilson Ave. — is celebrating its 70th year of service to Chicagoans in 2026. A press release issued through the Uptown Chamber of Commerce this week honored the anniversary, with college leadership reflecting on seven decades of opening doors for students across the Far North Side and beyond. "Harry S. Truman College has spent 70 incredible years of opening doors of opportunity for our students through education," the college stated in its announcement. Truman College serves a genuinely diverse student population — offering everything from transfer pathways and workforce credentials to ESL programs and adult education — and its presence in Uptown has long been one of the neighborhood's most important community anchors, even if it does not always get the recognition of the entertainment venues a few blocks south. Seven decades of that work deserves acknowledgment.
**Recipes From the Shelter Kitchen: Apna Ghar's Remarkable Cookbook**
Perhaps the most quietly powerful Uptown story of the week comes from Block Club Chicago's October 19 report on a new cookbook called "Recipes From Our Home," produced by Apna Ghar — the Uptown-based domestic violence shelter and advocacy organization. The cookbook features dishes and personal notes from Apna Ghar residents who have cooked for themselves and for each other in the shelter's shared kitchen. It is, in the most literal sense, a community project: a collection of recipes that also functions as a record of resilience, connection, and the everyday act of nourishing one another through difficult circumstances. Apna Ghar, whose name means "our home" in several South Asian languages, has served Chicago's immigrant and refugee communities for decades, and this cookbook is a tangible expression of the community that forms within its walls. If you'd like to learn more about Apna Ghar or get a copy of the cookbook, visit apnaghar.org.
Taken together — a palace that roared back to life for a weekend, a college that has quietly served Uptown for 70 years, and a cookbook that turns a shelter kitchen into a community table — this week is a reminder of just how many different kinds of stories this neighborhood holds. Have you toured the Uptown Theatre this weekend? Are you connected to Truman College or Apna Ghar? Share your thoughts in the comments and stay connected at exploreuptown.org!
Sources:
1. https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/uptown-theatre-tours/
2. https://uptowntheatre.com/
3. https://uptownchamber.chambermaster.com/news/category/press-release
4. https://blockclubchicago.org/latest-stories/