Lincoln Hall

Located at 2424 N Lincoln Avenue, the building which houses Lincoln Hall first opened in 1912 as the Fullerton Theatre, a nickelodeon. Since then, the building has housed a garage and machine shop, the Crest Theatre and, most recently, the 3 Penny Cinema. In 1934, FBI sharpshooters were stationed atop what is now Lincoln Hall to prevent John Dillinger’s escape from the Biograph Theatre across the street on the night he was killed. After 20 years as owner/operators of Schubas Tavern at 3159 N. Southport in Chicago, Mike and Chris Schuba opened Lincoln Hall in this historic building. “We’ve been looking three years for a building that would create a human-scale, intimate experience where we can put the music first,” said Chris Schuba in 2009 as he walked the dust-covered mezzanine while construction workers welded, sawed and hammered around him.