Photos provided by The Auditorium. Click on images to view larger versions.

By Steven Dahlman

Dec. 8, 2025 – A $625,000 grant from the National Park Service will help restore a 135-year-old stained-glass skylight and surrounding atrium at The Auditorium Theatre.

The skylight contains 108 panels and is located above the main balcony. It was designed in 1889 by stained-glass artists George Healy and Louis Millet. It was constructed with jewels and hand-cut cathedral glass that was so popular and unique that it was exhibited at the Paris World’s Fair of 1889.

The surrounding atrium features intricate ornamental stenciling – highlighted with 24-karat gold leaf – by The Auditorium architect Louis Sullivan. (Left and below) Closer views of skylight. Photo by Andy Argyrakis.

The grant, along with money from local donors, will allow The Auditorium “to finally restore one of the venue’s most historic elements and bring life back into what has been a forgotten piece of our history and architecture,” said Rich Regan, The Auditorium’s CEO.

The $2.5 million restoration should be completed by Fall 2027. Photo by William Zbaren

The music and performance venue, an official Chicago landmark since 1976 and a National Historic Landmark since 1975, opened in the Loop in 1889. It was designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan and is owned by Roosevelt University.