Photo courtesy Joe Angelastri

The building standing alone at the southwest corner of Irving Park Road and Cicero Avenues still stands today, over 100 years later. Note the original cupola and flag pole that have since been removed. This is the former home of the Borovik Drug Store.

Photo by Jerianne Garber

The American Institute of Architects lists this Prairie School house in its guide of significant buildings in Chicago. It was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. The house is recognized for its corner windows with geometric mullions and its horizontal board and batten siding on stucco surface.

Etching from the Handbook for Architects and Builders, Volume XXXIV 1931-32; published by the Illinois Society of Architects, Chicago, Illinois

The Klee Brothers Building has been a Six Corners landmark for over 70 years.

Photo by Jerianne Garber

This former Peoples Gas retail store is designated as an official landmark by the City Council of Chicago.

Built in 1926, it was designed by George Grant Elmslie (Louis Sullivan’s chief draftsman) and Hermann V. Von Holst. Considered a good example of Sullivanesque ornamental style, the building is constructed from Bedford limestone with embellished carvings vertically on its piers and across its cornice. Peoples Gas originally used the store to display gas appliances, which it both sold and rented to neighborhood consumers.

Currently the building is occupied by Lydia Home Association, which operates the Stomping Grounds Café on the first floor and maintains offices on the upper floors.

Photo by Mark Schademan

The Portage Park Theatre opened in 1920 and remained a popular fixture of the neighborhood, becoming a second-run movie house in the 1960s. In the 70s, its auditorium was chopped in two, and the interior received a modernization that removed almost all that remained of its original appearance.

Oddly, the ticket booth was removed in the 80s, and tickets were then sold in the lobby off a table and folding chairs set up school bake sale style.

The Portage is currently closed, having been open only sporadically since 2000. Hopefully, the next tenants can reopen and restore this classic neighborhood theater. There currently is talk of reopening it as a performing arts venue and/or movie house.