Heart Theatre

133 E. Jefferson Avenue,
Effingham, IL 62401

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Related Websites

Heart Theatre (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Frisina Amusement Company

Architects: Charles Dawson, Carl T. Meyer

Styles: Streamline Moderne

Nearby Theaters

News About This Theater

Heart Theatre

An early example of adaptive reuse of an existing structure, the Heart Theatre was built inside what had formerly been a garage and opened in 1941.

The theatre originally contained 750 seats, but this number was downsized to 500 by Frisina Amusement Co. in the 1970’s.

The theatre closed around 2002, reopened in 2003 and was closed again in 2007. In summer of 2022 it was purchased by a former Effingham resident who plans to donate the theatre to a non-profit for the benefit of the community.

Contributed by Paul Salley, Colby Higgs

Recent comments (view all 50 comments)

soybean
soybean on February 1, 2009 at 8:01 am

What I read online the reason the deal fell through was when the building was inspected by an building inspector for the buyer. Mold was found in the building. The inside of the theater would had to be gutted & rebuilt before the theater could be reopen. The seller had the possible buyers believing the theater building would be a turn key operation. The buyer who pulled out believed untill the building inspector gave her the bad news about the building. There wouldn’t be much worked involved before reopening the theater. So who ever buys the theater will have to plan on spending a large amount of money in redoing the theater besides the price they paid for the
building.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on July 19, 2010 at 5:20 pm

Nice photos of the Heart Theatre.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on July 20, 2010 at 1:34 pm

Nice theatre,I hate small marquees on theatres.

Packardgirl
Packardgirl on November 5, 2010 at 11:43 am

I looked at the recent photos and was wondering if the pieces that were missing are vitrolite or terra cotta? I was by there in the Spring of ‘09 and it can’t remeber.Any other news on it?

travis518
travis518 on August 20, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Does anyone know who to contact about buying this cinema?

EdBaumgarten
EdBaumgarten on March 4, 2012 at 7:02 pm

Travis518, if you’re still interested, contact Jeff Speer at the Effingham Remax office or one of his staff, they can probably give you the pertinent information. I’m a local photographer.

stormdog
stormdog on January 8, 2013 at 3:05 pm

I was in Effingham to photograph the Heart Theater this past Summer and just got around to editing and posting my photos of her. Here’s a photo of the whole facade. You can see the rest of my shots adjacent to this one in my photostream.

Heart Theatre Facade

GeorgeStrum
GeorgeStrum on February 25, 2016 at 3:33 pm

Contact the Theatre Historical Society.

Jake Bottero
Jake Bottero on May 22, 2021 at 4:59 am

Looks pretty sad these days, but mostly still there in all its glory…

Bruce C.
Bruce C. on March 12, 2023 at 1:26 pm

Here’s the new website for The Heart Theatre in Effinghma. The Gallery includes recent photos of the interior.

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