When AMC purchased Kerasotes, the Wings property became theirs. The last time I was in the theatre, I observed a very large hole in the roof of the left-hand auditorium, which birds used to enter the building. This theatre was similar to another Kerasotes location, also closed, in Sullivan, MO.
This location was a Plitt Theatre in 1976 when I joined the company. It was in the far south end of Ed Konradt’s district, which also included (at that time) the Wildey in Edwardsville, the Grand in Alton, and the Madison and Palace in Peoria. Plitt closed it within a few years; maybe that was when Bloomer took over. Sadly, years after its closure but before its demolition, the body in a murder case was discovered on the grounds.
This was actually an L&M location, along with the downtown Joliet theatres. I was friends with the long-time manager of the Bel-Air, John Strain. He had some pretty wild and funny stories about the place. One of the stranger ones was when the refinery behind it caught fire; the light from the flames made the area too bright for a decent presentation of the movie on the screen.
I’ll always remember the first time I saw “Annie Hall.” It was at the Hillcrest, still a 1000+ seat single-screen in 1977. Woody Allen films really didn’t play that well in Chicago’s collar cities, and I was one of about four people watching the movie. But every time a funny line happened, you could hear all four of us, in our own corners of the auditorium, laughing out loud. Our laughter echoed in that cavernous room.
I believe the Plaza 4 opened in 1972, because it was already open when I moved to Lincoln in August, 1973.
Downtown Lincoln at that time had the Plaza 4, Douglas 3, Cinema 2, Stuart, State, Hollywood & Vine 2 (where I worked), and the Embassy (porn house). The only other indoor houses were the Cooper/Lincoln on East O Street, and the Joyo in Havelock (far northeast Lincoln). There were two drive-ins, single-screeners on either end of O Street. Three theatre circuits were headquartered in Lincoln at the time: Cooper Foundation, Douglas Theatres, and Dubinsky Theatres.
The Wings twin theatre is located a few blocks south of the Home Theatre, and is also closed. Both were once owned by Kerasotes; the Wings property might actually now belong to AMC as part of the 2010 Kerasotes purchase. The Wings plan was also built in Sullivan, MO.
This might have been owned by Rhyan Management, who had other locations across the northern Chicago suburbs. It never was Kerasotes. The “Showplace” name was used by several independent companies; in Evansville, Indiana, Kerasotes had to call their 16-plex “Stadium” since the local chain already called their theatres “Showplace.”
This might have been owned by Rhyan Management, who had other locations across the northern Chicago suburbs. It never was Kerasotes. The “Showplace” name was used by several independent companies; in Evansville, Indiana, Kerasotes had to call their 16-plex “Stadium” since the local chain already called their theatres “Showplace.”
I was the relief manager (gave the manager his days off) from opening until my Fox Valley 4 opened the following December. I had to laugh remembering the “luxury comfort seating” line in the opening ads. Those were cheap Massey Polaris seats, which were neither luxurious nor comfortable! This theatre never really did much business, between the poor location and Bolingbrook’s lousy reputation at the time. Kerasotes had much better luck locating at the opposite end of town with their 12-plex.
The map needs to be corrected. The theatre is in NORTH Aurora, a separate city from Aurora, about two miles north and across the Fox River from the incorrectly-mapped location.
Interesting coincidence: This location had to delay its grand opening by a week due to not passing a pre-opening fire department inspection. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was supposed to open, and had to be moved literally at the last minute across the street to the Chicago Ridge. (Chicago Ridge missed its opening day by a week, as well.)
Map location is incorrect. The theatre and shopping center were on the north side of Higgins Road just east of Barrington Road (west of the incorrect location).
Probably one of the strangest phone calls I ever received in 30+ years in the business was when the assistant manager of the Edens called me one sunny, windy March Sunday afternoon and told me that the fire department wouldn’t let us open Edens 1 because “the roof had come off.” Knowing the reinforced-concrete construction of that amazing roof, I knew this wasn’t possible. She couldn’t describe what she was seeing, so I drove the 30 miles to the theatre. When I arrived, I could only burst out laughing. The black tarpaper roof covering had peeled off like a giant rotten banana and was lying curled up off the edge and into the parking lot! It was several days later when the mess was cleaned up and we could reopen # 1.
In 2005, this location took a direct hit from a winter tornado. Some of the HVAC units like the ones visible in the photo ended up in the parking lot. Over 100 people were in the building that Sunday evening, but no one was injured.
Longtime Oriental Theatre manager Mickey Gold, who ran the place for the last 30+ years as a movie theatre, shared great stories about his work lunches with some of the stage performers (big band leaders and The Three Stooges, for example).
Essaness managers said that the Diana was named after Alan Silverman’s wife. She was also allegedly responsible for the restroom tile choices in many of the Essaness locations.
The theatre was opened by F&F Enterprises (Golf Mill 1-2-3), who later merged their operations with Essaness. Cineplex Odeon took over the theatre when they acquired the Chicago-area Essaness locations in 1986.
When AMC purchased Kerasotes, the Wings property became theirs. The last time I was in the theatre, I observed a very large hole in the roof of the left-hand auditorium, which birds used to enter the building. This theatre was similar to another Kerasotes location, also closed, in Sullivan, MO.
The Dundale Drive-In was leased by Plitt Theatres for one or two seasons in the early 80’s. Plitt was the last operator of the location.
That Vietnam movie sounds like “The Green Berets” with John Wayne. Jim Hutton met his demise in the fashion described.
This location was a Plitt Theatre in 1976 when I joined the company. It was in the far south end of Ed Konradt’s district, which also included (at that time) the Wildey in Edwardsville, the Grand in Alton, and the Madison and Palace in Peoria. Plitt closed it within a few years; maybe that was when Bloomer took over. Sadly, years after its closure but before its demolition, the body in a murder case was discovered on the grounds.
This was actually an L&M location, along with the downtown Joliet theatres. I was friends with the long-time manager of the Bel-Air, John Strain. He had some pretty wild and funny stories about the place. One of the stranger ones was when the refinery behind it caught fire; the light from the flames made the area too bright for a decent presentation of the movie on the screen.
I’ll always remember the first time I saw “Annie Hall.” It was at the Hillcrest, still a 1000+ seat single-screen in 1977. Woody Allen films really didn’t play that well in Chicago’s collar cities, and I was one of about four people watching the movie. But every time a funny line happened, you could hear all four of us, in our own corners of the auditorium, laughing out loud. Our laughter echoed in that cavernous room.
The Commonwealth Bannister Mall 5 was located inside the now-demolished Bannister Mall. AMC’s sixplex was across Bannister Road from the mall.
I believe the Plaza 4 opened in 1972, because it was already open when I moved to Lincoln in August, 1973. Downtown Lincoln at that time had the Plaza 4, Douglas 3, Cinema 2, Stuart, State, Hollywood & Vine 2 (where I worked), and the Embassy (porn house). The only other indoor houses were the Cooper/Lincoln on East O Street, and the Joyo in Havelock (far northeast Lincoln). There were two drive-ins, single-screeners on either end of O Street. Three theatre circuits were headquartered in Lincoln at the time: Cooper Foundation, Douglas Theatres, and Dubinsky Theatres.
The Wings twin theatre is located a few blocks south of the Home Theatre, and is also closed. Both were once owned by Kerasotes; the Wings property might actually now belong to AMC as part of the 2010 Kerasotes purchase. The Wings plan was also built in Sullivan, MO.
This might have been owned by Rhyan Management, who had other locations across the northern Chicago suburbs. It never was Kerasotes. The “Showplace” name was used by several independent companies; in Evansville, Indiana, Kerasotes had to call their 16-plex “Stadium” since the local chain already called their theatres “Showplace.”
This might have been owned by Rhyan Management, who had other locations across the northern Chicago suburbs. It never was Kerasotes. The “Showplace” name was used by several independent companies; in Evansville, Indiana, Kerasotes had to call their 16-plex “Stadium” since the local chain already called their theatres “Showplace.”
This location became an AMC theatre in May 2010.
I was the relief manager (gave the manager his days off) from opening until my Fox Valley 4 opened the following December. I had to laugh remembering the “luxury comfort seating” line in the opening ads. Those were cheap Massey Polaris seats, which were neither luxurious nor comfortable! This theatre never really did much business, between the poor location and Bolingbrook’s lousy reputation at the time. Kerasotes had much better luck locating at the opposite end of town with their 12-plex.
Opened by Kerasotes Theatres in 2004(?)and became an AMC location in May 2010.
The map needs to be corrected. The theatre is in NORTH Aurora, a separate city from Aurora, about two miles north and across the Fox River from the incorrectly-mapped location.
Interesting coincidence: This location had to delay its grand opening by a week due to not passing a pre-opening fire department inspection. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was supposed to open, and had to be moved literally at the last minute across the street to the Chicago Ridge. (Chicago Ridge missed its opening day by a week, as well.)
Map location is incorrect. The theatre and shopping center were on the north side of Higgins Road just east of Barrington Road (west of the incorrect location).
The map is incorrect; it looks like the peg is at 601 East, and should be 601 West, which places it near Parkade Blvd.
Please change status to “closed.” Last day of operation was Thursday, May 17, 2012.
Probably one of the strangest phone calls I ever received in 30+ years in the business was when the assistant manager of the Edens called me one sunny, windy March Sunday afternoon and told me that the fire department wouldn’t let us open Edens 1 because “the roof had come off.” Knowing the reinforced-concrete construction of that amazing roof, I knew this wasn’t possible. She couldn’t describe what she was seeing, so I drove the 30 miles to the theatre. When I arrived, I could only burst out laughing. The black tarpaper roof covering had peeled off like a giant rotten banana and was lying curled up off the edge and into the parking lot! It was several days later when the mess was cleaned up and we could reopen # 1.
The map needs correction. The location was on the north side of WEST Gray between Dunlavy St. and Waugh Dr.
In 2005, this location took a direct hit from a winter tornado. Some of the HVAC units like the ones visible in the photo ended up in the parking lot. Over 100 people were in the building that Sunday evening, but no one was injured.
Longtime Oriental Theatre manager Mickey Gold, who ran the place for the last 30+ years as a movie theatre, shared great stories about his work lunches with some of the stage performers (big band leaders and The Three Stooges, for example).
Essaness managers said that the Diana was named after Alan Silverman’s wife. She was also allegedly responsible for the restroom tile choices in many of the Essaness locations.
The theatre was opened by F&F Enterprises (Golf Mill 1-2-3), who later merged their operations with Essaness. Cineplex Odeon took over the theatre when they acquired the Chicago-area Essaness locations in 1986.