On the 1898 Sanborn fire insurance map, the address for the vacant Variety Theatre was listed as 52 Commercial Street. The auditorium occupied only about three-fourths of the building's 36-foot width. The theater had a U-shaped balcony and was heated by an iron hot air furnace. 1898 Sanborn fire insurance map, 1898
On the 1911 Sanborn map, the Variety Theatre appears to have become the Tribune Printing & Publishing building. 1911 Sanborn fire insurance map, 1911
A comparison of the Progress Building and Variety Theatre (top) and the Tribune Building and Tribune Printing & Publishing buildings (bottom). An annex was apparently built to connect the former Variety Theatre to the Progress Building. Sanborn fire insurance map, 1898 and 1911