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Restoring the Ramova: McHugh Construction brings Bridgeport theater back to life By Dan Rafter, Editor
The marquee outside the Ramova Theatre glows again. (Photo courtesy of McHugh Construction.)
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ertain projects are destined to make a powerful impact on a neighborhood. And that’s what McHugh Construction’s adaptive reuse of Chicago’s historic Ramova Theatre is already doing in the Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport. McHugh Construction completed its $30 million adaptive reuse of the Bridgeport theater late last year, with the theater hosting its first live performance, Slo ‘Mo, a Chicago-based LGBTQ-centered dance party, on New Year’s Eve of 2023. McHugh’s work has transformed the Ramova Theatre from a long-shuttered single-screen cinema to an 1,800-person concert hall that is once again a landmark at its location of 3510-3520 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport.
This is important not only for Bridgeport but for the neighborhood’s Halsted Street corridor, too. The section of Halsted surrounding the then-closed Ramova was dotted with empty storefronts. The hope is that the energy brought by the renovated Ramova will provide a boost to this section of Halsted, encouraging new businesses to locate here.
was such a part of childhood for so many people in that neighborhood.”
“Everyone is so excited about this,” said Andrew Totten, vice president of McHugh Construction, who spent long hours working on this two-year adaptive re-use project. “All the way through the construction process, people in the neighborhood were just so excited about this. They’d walk up and say, ‘My sister used to work here,’ or ‘We had our first date here. Can we just poke our head in?’ It
The Ramova Theatre was an iconic building in Bridgeport thanks to its neon red marquee and Spanish-inspired architecture. In the ‘80s, though, the theater struggled to compete with newer multi-screen movie houses. That led to its eventual closure. It’s also why the new Ramova
The renovated Ramova was a long time coming. The theater closed in 1985, after showing the movie Police Academy 2. It wasn’t exactly a glorious ending for a movie palace that first opened its doors in 1929.
RAMOVA (continued on page 14)