Talk:Chicago Theatre/GA1

Chicago Theatre GA Reassessment

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Starting GA reassessment as part of the GA Sweeps process. Jezhotwells (talk) 11:11, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Checking against GA criteria

GA review (see here for criteria)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose): b (MoS):

   It is not well written, prose is clunky, stilted and unghrammatical. I recommend a thorough copy-edit.

   Some of the most glaring examples:

   that commonly appears in film, television, artwork, and photography commonly?

   Reworked Pknkly (talk) 19:58, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

   Throughout its decades many of the top performers and stars of their day ...' throughout its decades?

   Fixed (decades → existence).--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 04:16, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

   The grand lobby, five stories high and surrounded by gallery promenades at the mezzanine and balcony levels, is an influence of the Royal Chapel at Versailles Really? I would have thought that in fact the theatre was influenced by Versailles.

   Thanks. fixed.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 04:28, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

   Under History we have During the 1970s, business at the Chicago Theatre slowed under the ownership of Plitt Theatres and it closed on September 19, 1985. On April 1, 2004 the building was purchased by TheatreDreams Chicago, LLC from the City of Chicago for $3 million in 2003 So was it 2004 or 2003?

   Fixed. Thanks for reading this closely.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 04:41, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

   'Restoration we have a whole section about the theatre between 1984 and the present, which should really be integrated with the history section. And the purchase by TheatreDreams needs explaining - what happened to the Chicago Theater Preservation Group - I thought they owned it, not the City of Chicago.

   Hope the restructuring with subsections under History tended toward meeting the integration criteria. Pknkly (talk) 19:58, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

   Trivia section - this needs to be removed. The Reagan engagement announcement may be notable enough to be mentioned in the history but the rest is just trivia. The alleged Al Capone connection is very marginal and sourced from a non reliable source.

   I have taken out a few trivial unsourced claims and sourced one that was unsourced.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 22:57, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

   Overall, nowhere near GA standard, needs a comprehensive re-write. Jezhotwells (talk) 12:55, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

   *Much improved but we still have confusion about ownership.

   • During the 1970s, business at the Chicago Theatre slowed under the ownership of Plitt Theatres and it closed on September 19, 1985.
   • Then we have: In 1984, the Chicago Theatre Preservation Group purchased the theater and adjoining Page Brothers Building for $11.5 million ($23.6 million in current dollar terms). So they bought it before it closed?
   • Then we have: On April 1, 2004 the building was purchased by TheatreDreams Chicago, LLC from the City of Chicago for $3 million. Hang on - I thought that the Chicago Theatre Preservation Group owned it. Did they sell it to the City Council? If so when? This really needs clarification. Jezhotwells (talk) 09:06, 17 August 2009 (UTC) Y That all makes sense now. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:56, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

    Done--VirtualSteve ^{need admin support?} 23:45, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

   I fixed a number or dead links and redirects using WP:CHECKLINKS; On dead link, ref #16 [1] remains; as noted above ref #8 [2] is not RS; can it be established that ref #9 [3] is a RS?; ref #22 [4] Amazon is not a RS for this sort of information. Good for publishers, ISBN author name only.

   
   

   For ref #16 (note: since the restructuring the ref numbers changed in the article) http://www.thechicagotheatre.com/about_theatre_tech.htm - that citation is not needed and was deleted since the other good citation supports the statement. Pknkly (talk) 20:38, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

   
   

   For ref #8 http://www.preserveatlanta.com/chicago4.htm - Could not find a suitable replacement. I moved it along with the statement into the History section. Seems to have some relevance in that section. Pknkly (talk) 04:39, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

   
   

   For ref #9 http://web.archive.org/web/20080122095912/http://chicago.urban-history.org/sites/theaters/chicago.htm the author and site information is at http://chicago.urban-history.org/int/about.shtml . Looks like a good RS. Your thoughts?Pknkly (talk) 00:01, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

   
   

   For ref #22 (note: since the restructuring the ref numbers changed in the article) http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Palaces-Balaban-Images-America/dp/0738539864- changed to http://www.balabanandkatzfoundation.com/index.html

   All OK, except for ref #8 [5], the account of a trip by members of the Atlanta Preservation Center which cannot be regarded as a reliable source on Chicago history. Jezhotwells (talk) 09:06, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

   Number 8 is a difficult one. I agree with the concern over the current source. The Chicago Tribune seems to have plenty of old articles relating to the subject matter but in these days of "pay per view" reliable sourcing from this paper is difficult. Perhaps someone in the area can source a library copy of old newspapers from the era? For now I have just removed the content and citation - which whilst interesting is not of paramount importance to keeping the article at GA level. Details of the content removed is as follows ... Al Capone assumed control of the projectionists and stagehands unions and extorted money from the Balaban and Katz chain. --VirtualSteve ^{need admin support?} 00:01, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

   I have looked through Nexis and other searches. There is no doubt that Capone's "Outfit" controlled the union IATSE and the projectionists, and undoubtedly they gouged all of the theatre and movie house chains, but nothing specific is mentioned about the Chicago Theatre. Balaban and Katz were "protected" along with all of the others. I also fixed a broken cite, #8. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:56, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

   Could lose the trivia as mentioned above

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

   OK, on hold for seven days for above issues to be fixed. Major contributors and projects will be informed. Jezhotwells (talk) 12:55, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

   OK, I am happy with the article now. Confirmed as worthy of GA status. Thanks for all of your hard wok guys. This is an interesting artcile and maybe one day I will get to see the theatre. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:56, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

   Thanks Jezhotwells appreciate your work. I too hope to see the theatre one day - but I fear I may live much further from it than you?--VirtualSteve ^{need admin support?} 04:33, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

   Wow, what a compliment - two people wanting to come to the city because of the article! Hope both of you can make it sometime. The Chicago Theater is only a 10 to 15 minute walk from Grant Park (Chicago) where all the free music festivals take place. So, if you are music fans come on over and then see the Chicago and all the other great things (museums, landmark buildings, Navy Pier, basically everything that the city has to offer to tourists) that are all available free with the trolley system or simply a 30 minute pleasant walk. Thanks for taking the time to review, improving the article, and providing the feedback. Pknkly (talk) 23:11, 21 August 2009 (UTC)