Overview

In early 1929 newspaper advertisements for the planned theatre referred to it as the Roxee. Over the summer of 1929, a contest was held by Draugas, the local Lithuanian language newspaper, to name the theatre. The Rev. Anicetus M. Linkus came up with the winning name of Ramova, which means either “peaceful place” or “serene place” in Lithuanian.

The Ramova Theatre was a sister to the Music Box Theatre in the Lake View neighborhood of Chicago, which also opened in 1929. Architect Meyer O. Nathan designed the Ramova in an Atmospheric style with a Spanish courtyard theme.

The theatre closed in 1985. In 2001, the theatre was purchased by the city of Chicago who kept it mostly wind and watertight, awaiting renovation.

Tyler Nevius purchased the Ramova Theatre and an adjacent lot from the City of Chicago for $1 in 2017. Together with 55 partners and 49 investors, including Chicago natives Quincy Jones, Jennifer Hudson and Chance the Rapper, Nevius undertook an extensive renovation, resulting in a live music space along with a craft brewery and a restaurant and beer garden. The Ramova reopened at the end of December 2023.

The adaptive reuse of the Ramova Theatre combines cutting-edge technology inside a historic Atmospheric-style backdrop and keeps the building at the forefront of live entertainment in Chicago.

This is a stub article awaiting further historical analysis and research.