The Woods Theatre was a movie palace located at the corner of Randolph and Dearborn Streets in downtown Chicago. It opened in the 1920s and was popular entertainment destination for decades. The Woods was designed in the grand style of movie palaces of the early 20th century by the firm Marshall and Fox, which also designed such still-extant Chicago structures as the Blackstone Theatre (later renamed the Merle Reskin Theatre) and the Drake Hotel. Although it was demolished in the 1990s, it was considered for entry in the National Register of Historic Places.
The theatre's demolition in the 1990s was part of a controversial urban renewal project. Beginning with the demolition of the Garrick Theatre on Randolph, many of Chicago's classic theatres were demolished either because of disuse or disrepair. The Woods was located on the parcel directly northwest of the controversial Block 37, which once housed the Roosevelt and United Artists theatres. The site of the Woods Theatre is now occupied by the new Goodman Theatre Center. Block 37 across the street sat vacant for more than fifteen years.
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