Barry Schain’s Vision for “Hollywood by the Lake”

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To lure still another type of crowd, Schain is contemplating putting a sports bar and restaurant in the space now occupied by Christopher’s on Halsted and the Ruggles Cabaret. Schain expects to do a major sales job on the neighborhood residents to win their approval for a sports bar; he envisions a watering hole where both sports fans and theatergoers would feel comfortable stopping in for a drink–a tricky concept to pull off.

In an attempt to make better use of what is now office space in the building above Christopher’s, Schain has approached the owners of the American Museum of the Movie Image at the Astoria movie studios in New York City about opening a Chicago branch. The museum deals with the history of movies and movie production and attracts about 250,000 people a year. “We need a day draw in the complex,” said Schain. If he can cut a deal with a movie-theater chain, he’d also like to build one or more movie theaters on top of the parking garage adjacent to the Royal George. The theaters could both show first-run films, and hold special screenings in conjunction with the movie museum.

The new building will occupy less than half of the land on which the armory now sits; the remaining property will become a one-acre sculpture garden. The building will include about 40,000 square feet of gallery space (some areas with ceilings that can be raised and lowered), up from around 11,000 square feet in the present space on Ontario Street. The new museum also will house an education center with classrooms, an art library, a cafe, a bookstore, and a 350-seat auditorium. Consey wants the MCA to grow as a venue for performance art and video when it moves into the new structure in 1995.

Except for a two-year tour of duty in the Triibune’s sports department, Dretzka has been working in arts and features for the past eight years. Since 1988 he’s acted as the papers television and home-entertainment editor and as liaison between the features and hard news departments. What changes, if any, will Dretzka’s ascension bring to the Tribune’s cultural coverage? Only time will tell: Dretzka wasn’t available to discuss his plans. “I’m going to let the product speak for itself,” he said through a spokesman.

Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Lloyd DeGrane.