Sparta Theatre
141 W. Broadway Street,
Sparta,
IL
62286
141 W. Broadway Street,
Sparta,
IL
62286
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The Sparta closed on December 28, 1986 on account of slumping business. It was heavily damaged by fire on February 16, 1988 and torn down the following August.
I’ve been through Sparta many times through the years, and I can confirm that grassy vacant lot is where the Sparta Theater once stood.
Address was 141 West Broadway, same as the previous Grand Theatre on the same site. I added a 1971 photo and the same bank building to the Sparta’s left is still standing in the July 2019 street view. The former Sparta Theatre site is still a grass covered vacant lot, with part of the perimeter foundation still visible.
I remember my Dad used to stop by there if going by sometimes on an occasional evening and he’d get take out popcorn for us to have for watching the new cable TV movies he had subscribed our household to. My mom worked the counter there, she said she knew J.D. from thence, when she was a “teenie bopper” cheerleader at Sparta High ~lol
Here are some photos from 1985:
http://tinyurl.com/derlsg
http://tinyurl.com/c6cfrf
http://tinyurl.com/d5kzs3
http://tinyurl.com/c6636m
http://tinyurl.com/cfnenw
The Sparta was part of the Turner-Farrar theater chain in the early sixties.