08/13/2026
HMPG Project of the Month- August 2026
1539 N. MILWAUKEE AVENUE- ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH
CHICAGO, IL
Sometimes small projects tell fascinating stories, especially when they involve older buildings with distinctive histories. The unassuming one-story building at 1539 N. Milwaukee Avenue, in the Wicker Park Historic District, is one such example. Built in 1912 as the Home Theater—more precisely, the Home 5-Cent Theater—it was an early example of Chicago’s shift from private storefront nickelodeons to dedicated neighborhood movie houses designed specifically for film screenings. A Chicago Tribune article from Dec. 13, 1912, reported that 635 theaters of all sizes and types were operating in the city. Many stood along Milwaukee Avenue, but few survive today, making this building a rare link to Chicago’s century-old cinematic past. Designed in the Classical Revival style by architect David Saul Klefter for the Gumbiner Brothers, the theater became known for a partial roof collapse during construction. Newspapers at the time described the incident as “perilous” and a “deadly disaster,” though no deaths were reported. Klefter faced a lawsuit and public hearings over inspections and design, but he was eventually cleared of wrongdoing. The theater was renamed the Bell Theater in 1914, the Wicker Park Theater after a 1921 fire, and the Wicker Theater in 1954. It closed permanently in 1955.
As Wicker Park continued to evolve, the building was adapted for commercial and retail use, serving a range of soft-goods tenants. The most recent was John Fluevog Shoes, which opened in 1999 and painted the building deep blue. Centrum Realty and Development, the current owner, sought a tenant suited to the building’s character and the neighborhood, and Abercrombie and Fitch proved to be an ideal fit. To meet its retail needs, however, the building required substantial modifications. When the theater was first converted for retail use in the late 1950s, the sloped auditorium floor was leveled with wood construction, creating a partial basement and crawlspace below. Over time, that structure settled, deteriorated, and was no longer level. The entire wood floor structure and sloped floor beneath it were removed, the area was filled with gravel, and a new concrete slab was poured. The roof over the front section of the building—the former lobby—was also wood-framed, deteriorated, and required reframing. Historical research revealed that the parapet had been rebuilt at some point lower than its original design. As part of the exterior renovation, it was reconstructed to more closely reflect the building’s historic appearance, and new custom windows and storefront were installed. Unfortunately, after years of painting, the existing stone and brick façade could not be stripped and restored, so it was repaired, tuckpointed, and repainted in a more historically appropriate manner.
After the core and shell renovation was complete, Abercrombie and Fitch finalized its interior design and merchandising, highlighting several of the building’s distinctive features. The design exposes the long-span, column-free space of the former theater auditorium and takes advantage of the large central windows and arched window details at each end. The store opened in December 2024, exactly 112 years after the original Home Theater debuted. We are especially drawn to adaptive reuse projects like this, no matter their size, because they help keep the histories of both the building and the neighborhood alive.
Client: Centrum Realty and Development, LLC
Contractor: Price Construction Inc.
Structural Engineer: TGRWA
MEP-FP Engineer: ACGI Int’l.
Civil Engineer: Eriksson Engineering Associates
Photographer: Patsy McEnroe Photography
Just the Facts:
Site Area: 6,018 sf
Building Area: 4,884 sf net
Height: 1-story
Construction: Masonry, steel, wood
Exterior Materials: Brick and stone; glass and aluminum window system
Mechanical Systems: RTU
Status: Completed – December 2024
