During the renovations by DePaul University in 1988, some of the Blackstone's seats were removed to reinstate the orchestra pit and to create seating for handicapped persons, reducing the total to 1,325 seats. The auditorium in the Blackstone Theatre contained 1,400 seats. The Blackstone Theatre's program for opening night asserted that the theatre was "equipped with every modern device for safety and comfort, and it is believed to be the safest and most substantial theatrical structure in existence." A later program stated that "this theatre, under normal conditions, with every seat occupied, can be emptied in less than three minutes." Memories of a tragic fire at the Iroquois Theatre in 1903, which led to a loss of 571 lives, and resulted in a revision of the fire codes, prompted most theatres to reassure patrons that they would be safe. The total cost of the theatre was $500,000. The carpets, upholstery and wall hangings in the auditorium were ivory and green, designed to harmonize with the gold and green in the tapestry drop curtain at the front of the stage. A "blast system" of ventilation was supposed to change the air every three minutes. The auditorium's indirect ceiling lighting was supplemented by lights (set in gold-colored sconces and muted by silk shades) along the side walls. The lobby was finished in French walnut and gold, with a box office at the western end.
Originally, a canopy of iron and glass jutted out from the gray sandstone of the theatre's facade, but this was later replaced by a marquee.
Both the Blackstone Hotel and the theatre serve as an example of Beaux-Arts architecture. The Blackstone Theatre building is a six-story structure. They built the Blackstone Hotel and Theatre on a site previously occupied by Timothy Blackstone's home. Drake's sons, Tracy Drake and John Burroughs Drake, took over the management of the family estate after their father's death. Blackstone, an early Chicago businessman who was one of the first directors of the Union Stock Yards and a partner of hotel magnate John Burroughs Drake, owner of the Tremont House and the Grand Pacific Hotel. The Blackstone Hotel and Theatre were named after Timothy B. Prospects for the Blackstone were favorable because theatres have always been more successful enterprises when they are located near large hotels filled with visitors looking for a way to spend the evening. The Blackstone Theatre was located on the southern edge of the theatre district, but even there the potential audience was large because there were so many other theatres, restaurants and cabarets scattered throughout the downtown area. Drake and by Chicago architects Benjamin Howard Marshall and Charles Eli Fox. The Blackstone Theatre on Hubbard Court (later renamed Seventh Street and then Balbo Drive) adjoined the Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue, which had opened a year earlier.
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