Photos provided by The Auditorium. Click on images to view larger versions.
December 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.
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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.
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The $2.5 million restoration should be completed by Fall 2027. Photo by William Zbaren |
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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.
