Cine Lounge at Niles
9180 W. Golf Road,
Niles,
IL
60714
9180 W. Golf Road,
Niles,
IL
60714
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 82 comments
I agree with BW’s comments about the probable future for Golf Glen, but I’d prefer a second run theater when it reopens. I have nothing against Bollywood, and look forward to seeing what Adlabs will do to the theater (last I was at Golf Glen maybe 3 years ago some general repairs and renovations were definitely needed, but the theater was in pretty good condition for a 20+ year old theater and as I’ve commented before it’s good to see an old Cineplex remnant revived), but I sorely miss having a 2nd run theater nearby. Second run houses are a dying art. I miss having value theaters like Harlem Corners and Morton Grove around. Great second run houses where you could see a movie for a buck on select days. Nowadays, where to go? Lagrange is kind of a trek for me, and the Logan is problematic due to lack of sufficient parking. Having a second run within 20 mins of me would be great.
Some of the other theaters in the area that show Bollywood movies like Blommingdale Court and Lincoln Village have both American and Bollywood features playing. Maybe Adlabs will do the same at Golf Glen? Time will tell I guess. I hope Robin S' rumor will prove to be true, at least partially!
It’s possible, but I really doubt it. Reading that article, you would get the impression that it would be American films, but I can’t see why India’s largest chain would operate it as such, especially considering the large Indian population in the apartment area surrounding it and to the east along Dempster and Golf, the same population which has supported the Des Plaines Theater. If they were just going to run it the same way as it was before, why go through the trouble and expense of remodeling it?
I heard a rumor that it will re-open as a second-run theater and not a Bollywood one.
View link
Despite earlier indications that the Golf Glen’s movie days were over for good, The Golf Glen is slated to reopen under India’s largest movie chain, taking advantage of the large Indian population nearby. This likely spells the end of the nearby Des Plaines Theater’s bollywood period.
I passed by this theater today and noticed there are no more for lease signs on the building like the last time when I was in the area. I took a look inside and it looks relatively the same inside as when I last saw a movie here circa 2004 aside from the neon signs being stripped from the concession stand, the poster cases removed from the walls and there were a few ceiling tiles on the floor of the lobby. Other then that, the place looked relatively intact. Is it possible someone bought this place again? If so, some remodeling is definitely in order. It’ll be interesting to see if anythin is happening with this Cineplex Odeon remnant. I have to admit in reading some other posts about other former cineplex odeon theaters (like Lincoln Village 1-6 or North RIverside), I have a somewhat curious fascination with the old CO theaters as well. It’d be kind of neat to keep a few of these late 80’s early 90’s timepieces alive. I plan on going to Lincoln Village before it closes (anyone know when it’s scheduled to close?) and may even consider a matinee at North Riverside where I saw many movies in my youth to see how or if they’ve changed any since CO’s demise. I find it fascinating that Cineplex opened multiple theaters in my area (Brickyard, Oak Brook, North Riverside) and they all closed so quickly. Village purchased many of the remaining ones, but they all went under so quickly. Truly a shame, a big piece of my early moviegoing experiences will soon be merely a footnote in the history of Chicago cinema. Anyhow, anyone hear anything about Golf Glen?
Again, this theater was trash because of the gangs.
Thanks. I reposted the article on the correct page.
That theatre’s listing is here.
What is now Harlem Furniture/The Room Place was once a theatre…I assume it was the Golf-Rose.
Hoffman Estates is a suburb built in that era by a developer. Golf-Rose would be at the intersection of Golf and Roselle Roads.
What was Hoffman Estates? A gated community? This article is dated 9/2/65. If the Golf-Rose theater is listed under another name, let me know:
Drawings were released this week for the proposed 1,400-seat movie theater in the Golf-Rose Shopping Center in Hoffman Estates. Lowell Siff, vice president of F&S Construction Co., developer of the center, estimated that the theater should be open within six to nine months. He emphasized that the size of the movie house should assure
the showing of first run movies.
AT PRESENT THE nearest theater either in existence or under construction is a smaller theater in Rolling Meadows. The Golf-Rose theater will be built to the southeast of the Grant store and will face north toward the shopping center parking lot. The theater will be adjoined by 35,000 square feet of new space for new stores toward the east. Siff said that the commercial area is needed because all of the 81,000 square feet in Golf-Rose and the 42,500 square feet in the Plaza is now filled. There have been no commitments yet on the additional 35,000 square feet.
OPERATOR OF the theater will be Duncan Kennedy, described by Siff as a man with long experience in the field. Kennedy will continue to operate a movie house on Route 20 he now runs. Siff said the construction of a theater in a shopping center conforms with a country-wide trend. The parking space gets double use and many persons come to the center to shop who wouldn’t otherwise.
Nah, the Essaness design was distinctly different. Looked a lot more like your average early mall multiplex sort of lobby. I think it had a straight-across counter, for example. Plus, David Mesbur (note that he was not partnered with Smith until 1992) was based out of Canada, as was CO itself. Mesbur’s bio describes the 1983-1990 arrangement as “exclusive” which I would take to indicate that he was not working with other companies.
To Paul and BW:
In the photo set provided by Billymac, look at this concession photo
View link
That looks like the same design AMC used back in the 80’s. Now, I wonder if Essaness Theatres used Mesbur & Smith as architects for Chestnut Station and Golf Glen. For those who don’t know, Mesbur & Smith designed theaters for Cineplex Odeon exclusively from 1983-1990. Now maybe they designed a few theatres for Essaness before they entered the partnership with CO. Think about it, my brother saw Predator at Chestnut St back in June 87, and he said it looked like a CO theatre. CO didn’t really start the remodel for it until later that year. Do you think I’m on to something here?
Yeah, I went there a few times. I didn’t think it was too bad. And it could draw a decent audience depending on the film. Terribly understaffed though, I used to have friends who would walk right in without paying.
This theatre seems to have generated more interest after it closed than when it was open!
Has anybody else besides me and Bryan K. been here during the Village Theatres era?
Talking like like Yoda
Go to Elmhurst, I will.
Hmmm…that was a really long time ago. I almost vaguely remember that. I’m sure I was aware of it at the time. Do you know what the color scheme was originally? Any chance you could post scans of the Historical Society photos?
Carpeting, decor, concession stand. Probably the lighting in the theatres. There are pictures at the Theatre Historical Society. This would have been 86-87.
What did they change exactly? It looks the same to me as it always did.
It was remodeled fairly extensively when it went from Essaness to C-O, but that was rather early on.
Along with Town & Country, Golf Glen was one of the first few “multiplex” type theaters to open in the northern Chicago suburbs in the early to mid 1980s. It was located near the popular Golf Mill Theaters and shopping mall. During it’s heyday, it saw a large mix of often-younger patrons from nearby Maine, Glenbrook, Niles, and Morton Grove school districts. It operated until around early 2006 (it had closed for a period several years earlier, only to be reopened under new management). Since it’s opening, a funny thing happened with Golf Glen: it never changed. Not only was the place never modernized/remodeled, the demographics of the area also changed pretty dramitically. Personal memories: I saw many horror films here for some reason, including several of the “Nightmare” films, “The Believers”, “Silence of the Lambs” and a laughably bad Wes Craven film called “Deadly Friend.” I remember seeing “Ferris Bueller” and the “Karate Kid” here as well.
http://bmac5.photosite.com/Album8/
A belated reply to Cinemark Fan’s comment:
You are right in that this place had the “1980s-Cineplex-Odeon-Look” to it. Even though it was originally an Essaness, C-O did renovate it into their look. I went to the Golf-Glen just before it closed to see KING KONG and I thought I’d warped back to the then-recently closed Burnham Plaza (I’d only been to the G-G once before and that was circa 1990 to see THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER). And yes, the carpet was the same, the zig-zag things were on the wall.
A poster on the Lincoln Village 1-6 page stated that the remaining
C-Os from the 1983-1990 have “a creepy Cineplex-Odeon vibe” to them.
I beleive that the survivors from that era are now only the Bloomingdale Court, the Lincoln Village, the North Riverside (not sure what that one looks like on the inside—interesting that all three of these are Village Theatres) and possibly the Chicago Ridge. As I’ve said before, I wonder how long these places will remain.
I happened to pass the site last night. It is still sitting there for lease.
The FILM LITERATURE LIBRARY lists the following articles in VARIETY about the Essaness Chain:
1) Ingram, B. Essaness will run 89-screen Carisch Minneapolis circuit. Variety 330 Mar 30 (1988): 7 + [2p].
2) Chicago Essaness chain to buy Theater Operators Inc. of Montana. Variety 331 May 4 (1988): 8.
3) Odeon/Plitt buys 41 Essaness screens in Metro Chicago. Variety 323 May 14 (1986): 3+ [2p].
4) Essaness Theaters acquires 15-screen chain in Wisconsin. Variety 320 Oct 2 (1985): 5 + [2p].
Apparantly, Essaness was active up to and after the C-O/Plitt takeover.
Anybody remember when Lethal Weapon played here for a while? I only have that on microfilm. Come to think of it, Golf Mill down the road played a 70mm engagement of one of my favorite films of that year, Stakeout.