Medinah Temple, Moorish Revival building in Near North Side, Chicago, United States
The Medinah Temple occupies an entire city block at 600 N Wabash Avenue, displaying brick walls with elaborate terracotta ornaments and horseshoe-shaped arches. The four-story construction houses a large auditorium with 4,200 seats spread across three tiers, while the stage floor extends far into the main hall.
Huehl and Schmidt designed the building in 1912 as a meeting and performance venue for the Shriners fraternal organization in Chicago, which occupied it until 2000. Three years later, the interior was adapted into a retail floor for Bloomingdale's, before Bally's opened a temporary casino inside in September 2023.
The former Shriners meeting hall now appears as a modern retail floor with open-plan levels and wide aisles that echo the outline of the original theater seating. Visitors can spot numerous small details in fired clay inspired by Islamic design traditions along the outer walls, still visible between the storefronts.
The building sits in the Near North Side neighborhood between downtown and the northern residential areas, within walking distance of the Chicago River promenade. The three interior levels are accessible via stairs and elevators, with most spaces offering barrier-free access and wide passageways.
The Midland Terra Cotta Company produced all decorative facade elements using custom templates, creating a one-of-a-kind mosaic of geometric patterns and stylized plant forms. Each terracotta ornament was molded individually and installed by hand on the outer facade, making no two pieces look exactly alike.
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