West Chicago Movie Theater Recollections

posted by Michael Zoldessy on July 20, 2006 at 5:10 am

The Riverside Brookfield Landmark just published an insightful piece on the history of movie theaters in the West Chicago Suburbs:

Brookfield’s first movie theater opened in 1907, when the Ideal Entertainment Company began showing “Moving pictures — more and better than ever before,” at 25 cents for adults, and 15 cents for children. This first theater was at Melville Hall, 8865 Burlington Blvd.

Eight years later, in 1915, the Brookfield Theater, later known as the Strand, was showing movies and live vaudeville acts at around the same price. When the theater, located in the 3700 block of Grand Boulevard, closed during the winter of 1952-53, the quarter-dollar admission price still stood firm.

For the full story, please visit the Riverside Brookfield Landmark.