Varsity Center for the Arts
418 S. Illinois Avenue,
Carbondale,
IL
62901
418 S. Illinois Avenue,
Carbondale,
IL
62901
9 people
favorited this theater
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I was able to view two movies in the Varsity theater between 1983-1985. I saw: Against All Odds, and Purple Rain. I remember the screen being really small which made my eyes wander. The original interior architecture being lost, made for a generic experience. It was nice though, to still visualize the exterior of this 1940’s theater, knowing it was once, one theater not three. One could walk after class to see a afternoon movie, without having to drive. Nice touch. The theater by the IGA, which was larger and modern had the re-release of Alfred Hitchcock’s, Rear Window and Woody Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo was more to my liking. University Mall ultra modern theater had Witness, Ghost Busters, and The Natural respectively. Great experience.
June 26th, 1940, September 20th, 1974 and June 12th, 1981 grand opening ads in photo section.
On my trip through downstate Illinois last Summer, I shot some photos of the Varsity. Here’s a link to the first one. Subsequent ones follow on my Flickr photostream.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stormdog42/8751438679/
The 1940 Boxoffice article cited earlier identifies the architect of the Varsity Theatre as Oliver W. Stiegemeyer.
Additional photographs of the Varsity illustrate an article about the recently-opened house in Boxoffice of August 17, 1940.
The February 22, 1941, issue of Boxoffice published a photo of the Varsity Theatre in Carbondale. The caption attributed the design to St. Louis architect Oliver W. Stiegemeyer.
Picture from February 1982:
View link
According to the article, there is still a lot of work to be done – the nlobby, intermission room and the “east” auditorium (the addition) have been refurbished; future stages call for renovating the main auditorium and balcony; total cost would be about 4.5 mil, to be completed by 2012.
The Varsity is set to reopen tonight. The stage company has renovated one of the theaters and will present their first production there this weekend. They also clean-up the lobby and restored the marquee. The Southern Illinoisanhas an article and video up on their website today about the reopening.
I also forgot to add that in either April or May they had one screen running films, more than likely it was the new third screen they had just opened. The other two theatres were still being renovated at the time.
The Varsity burned on February 16, 1981. The third theater was already constructed at the time. The fire was caused by a worker’s cutting torch, he was cutting a piece of conduit that went thru the wall between the back of the main theater and the new one. Sparks from the torch went thru the pipe and ignited some seats stacked against the wall behind the main theater. the fire then spread to a curtain on the screen and went up into the attic. The main theater was completely destroyed. The second and third theaters suffered major smoke damage. The Varsity was closed for the next three and a half months. It finally reopened for business as a triplex on June 12, 1981. The following movies shown that night were Raiders of the Lost Ark, Breaker Morant, and Clash of the Titans. A newspaper ad for June 11 proclaimed the Varsity had new seats, new decor, new sound and projection equipment, and new transitional heating and air conditioning.
The last two movies shown the day before it burned were Altered States and Charlie Chan and the Curse of The Dragon Queen.
I’m looking for some info about the Varsity.
Could tlogan, melders, chris bodkin or anyone else that went to the theater or knows something about it email me.
my address is
Thanks.
When exactly did the Varsity catch fire? i know it happened while they were twinning it, but exactly whe? This info would be appreciated.
I’d link to the article in the local paper, but they are unreliable as to how long they keep articles on their website so I’ll just review what they plans are right now. The Stage Company plans to build a stage in one of the theaters and move in this fall. It will sit about 140-150. They then plan to work on the bigger theater, seating about 300, and have it ready sometime in the future. They plan to spruce up the small theater in the balconey and show movies in it, possibly foreign films. They plan to work on restoring the lobby, which does appear to need some work as it is painting in what appears to be plan white house paint. They also would like to work on the exterior.
The theater offically was given to the city this week, who then turned it over to the Stage Company. The local news showed the interior, and to my suprise, it appeared to be in great condition. Looked almost like it had been empty a couple weeks, not almost 5 years. Of course I wasn’t there so can’t really say for sure.
The Company claims to already have over $100,000 dollars ready to use, which is probably true considering they have been fundraising for a new home for 3 or so years.
The Varsity theater in Carbondale, Illinois is mentioned by a character in the 1980’s television series “Fame”, as the place where the school principal served as an usher while in college in the early 1950’s. From the conviction with which the line was delivered one gets the feeling that either the actor in question or the writer of that scene actually had that particular life experience.
I should add, that while GKC was operated out of Springfield, the North/South split wasn’t entirely geographical. GKC ran theatres into upstate Illinois and I think, Indianna and Michigan, while also running theatres to the south. They shied away from Chicago, at least in part because of the strength of Local #110 at the time. Carbondale was probably as far south at they went.
There are two Kerasotes circuit (or were). There was a family argument and some theatres became GKC Theatres (for George Kerasotes), and the other, Kerasotes Theatres. Bloomington and Champaign/Urbana, Illinois were GKC Theatres out of the original Springfield home base, while Galesburg theatres were operated by Kerasotes out of Chicago. The GKC Theatres have now been sold to another circuit (Cinemark?)in the last couple of years.
I’m not sure the statement above regarding maintenance is fair. Kerasotes is investing a lot of money to update the twenty year-old Webster Place on Clybourn Ave. in Chicago. Maybe it is a property by property attitude. If I am a business owner, and I see a particular asset as less important, I am not going to throw a lot of money at it.
Here is a small photo of the Varsity:
http://tinyurl.com/2r5uk5
Great news! Kerasotas has donated the theater to the city, and the city plans to renovate it and use it as a performance center for local theater groups.
Keresotes Theatres has always been a “penny-pincher” type of company. Upkeep and maintenance is NOT part of their language.
I remember the Varsity well… Saw Animal House there in the late 1970s, my friends and I loved it (we also had been drinking at the American Pub, PKs, and Merlins prior).
the amc/univesity 8 (by wal-mart) has simply been changed to Kerasotes University 8.
to add to melders statement of “yes they kept it open”, this is true, however, it seems as if they have done little to upgrade/improve the existing state of the facilites. yes, they finally got new seating, however, i do not think the company respects the people of southern illinois, b/c in no way have they “wowed” anyone with their facilities. Examples: chairs that mold to your body, arm rest that move so couples can snuggle, etc).
also, karesotes seemingly does little to improve the variety of movies one can see. between the three theatres they have (2 in c'dale, 1 in marion) if there’s something that’s missing from carbondale, the nearest place you could go to watch it would be st. louis, b/c there’s a 99% chance that it won’t be featured in marion.
it’s all about the bottom dollar, not about the quality of service.
the amc/univesity 8 (by wal-mart) has simply been changed to Kerasotes University 8.
to add to melders statement of “yes they kept it open”, this is true, however, it seems as if they have done little to upgrade/improve the existing state of the facilites. yes, they finally got new seating, however, i do not think the company respects the people of southern illinois, b/c in no way have they “wowed” anyone with their facilities. Examples: chairs that mold to your body, arm rest that move so couples can snuggle, etc).
also, karesotes seemingly does little to improve the variety of movies one can see. between the three theatres they have (2 in c'dale, 1 in marion) if there’s something that’s missing from carbondale, the nearest place you could go to watch it would be st. louis, b/c there’s a 99% chance that it won’t be featured in marion.
it’s all about the bottom dollar, not about the quality of service.
In a 1969 phone book, the Varsity is listed as CARBONDALE’S TOP ENTERTAINMENT CENTER. The phone number was 457-6100.