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Beautiful Atmos

The Palace Theatre opened on January 6, 1921, and was built and owned by William Hull. It was at one time the best known of the many theaters which once stood in downtown Peoria.

The vaudeville house was remodeled in 1929 into a movie palace. It was remodeled again in 1936 to the plans of architect William L. Pereira. It also played host to some of the biggest names in entertainment of the era, including Burns & Allen, Duke Ellington, and Ozzie and Harriet. The saying “If it’ll play Peoria” meant that if you were a hit here, you were on your way to the big time.

The theatre was sold to Publix Great States chain in 1963 and the exterior was given a facelift and in 1974, Plitt Theatres took over Publix. The theater closed in 1980, and was torn down, along with several other historic structures, to make way for the Twin Towers Place development - Notes by Bryan Krefft, Ken Roe.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -