Liberty Theater

bodkin6071 on April 29, 2008 at 4:54 pm

“Curtain down on Liberty Theater"
The Southern Illinoisan
September 12, 1998 by Thomas Beaumont, The Southern

As the credits rolled at the end of the 7 p.m showing of Halloween H20 on Thursday, the curtain fell on the Liberty Theater- for the last time. The 80-year-old-plus movie house, Murphysboro’s oldest, was closed because of slow business, Kerasotes Theatres general manager John Miller said. “There was no real factor other than the fact that it is the end of summer,” Miller said. “We’ve been evaluating our operations and decided, for this one, it was time.” The closure leaves Murphysboro without a movie theater and with a void along Walnut Street, where businesses and civic groups have battled the one-time epidemic empty storefronts for the past several years. Miller said the company has no plans yet for the building and that the five employees who work there likely will be offered jobs at other company-owned theatres throughout Southern Illinois. Henry Daniel, the theatre’s manager, has worked there since he was in high school. Kerasotes bought it in 1969. He described the summer’s box office as “pretty good,” but conceded that the start of the school year, the Du Quoin State Fair and the city’s Apple Festival, which starts next week, mark the annual slowdown in business. A person could see a first-run show for $1 at the Liberty, which was among 40 Kerasotes budget theatres. The company operates more than 100 theatres throughout the midwest, including theatres in Benton, Mount Vernon, Harrisburg, Cape Girardeau, Marion and Carbondale. The Libery, which sits at 1333 Walnut St., was built more than 80 years ago and used to be called the Tillford Theater. It offered stage shows before films became popular. As an Illinois Main Street Community, Murphysboro has made downtown revitalization one of its top priorities. The Liberty’s closing is sad, Murphysboro Main Street manager Chris Basler said, but it is not a setback that the community cannot handle. “There are possibilities for community theater,” he said, “or a business that could put that space to use.” An example of a successful theater recycling project is The Copper Dragon Brewing Co., a micro brewery and restaurant that operates in what used to be the Saluki Theater on Grand Avenue in Carbondale. Basler said there are no immediate prospects for the Liberty, considering Kerasotes has not announced plans for the building. He said Salem, in Marion County, which is also an Illinois Main Street community, suffered the same blow this week. There Kerasotes also closed the only theater in town, a two-screen show house. The Liberty was popular, Basler said, because it gave families an inexpensive form of entertainment, without leaving town. “I hate to see it go, that’s for sure,” he said.

There was a picture of the Liberty below the article, Kerasotes wasted no time removing the old marquee and the equipment.

rushchairman on September 6, 2006 at 7:42 am

They are currently trying to raise money to restore and reopen the liberty. They are selling posters to try to help the cause. Anything that can help, I guess. Anyway, here is the link: http://www.murphysboro.com/movieposters/