Coronet Theatre
817 Chicago Avenue,
Evanston,
IL
60202
817 Chicago Avenue,
Evanston,
IL
60202
4 people
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The Coronet marquee was at Architectural Artifacts in this photo dated July 13, 2016.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zol87/28529626285?fbclid=IwAR3b_1UL-uH8cnhN2y4jLtSApgddWhZr0k01omcQFjJuWIwcPpgGgc3mFOE
1979 photo added credit Dale Wickum.
Broan’s link goes to a photo of the Granada. I think this might be the photo he intended to link to.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mss2400/33923347596/in/pool-464579@N20
This opened as Coronet on February 19th, 1937. Its grand opening ad in the photo section.
Incredible 1938 photo added courtesy of Sherry Drew. It shows the original Coronet marquee after the renaming. The W.C. Fields film showing was originally released in 1934.
If I e-mail you, can you supply marquee photos I can upload to this page?
We are selling the Coronet Marquee, that was used before it was demolished. We am hoping to sell it to a collector. Contact me for information. Rosa
A glimpse of the Coronet is visible in the background of this painting by Walter Burt Adams.
Here is a brief view of the Coronet in a Drivers Ed video, as found by David Zornig
Correction to the circa 1928 photo I just posted. Photo credit should got to Barney Neuberger via Scott Greig.
The principals of Pereira & Pereira, the firm that did the 1936 remodeling of this theater, were William Pereira and Hal Pereira. Percival Pereira was an older architect who was never a member of this firm.
They almost spelled it right.
All new seats, but the marquee leaves something to be desired. 1982:
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Greetings. Different Evanston. Doris Day was born in Evanston, Ohio. Near Cincinatti. The Coronet was in Evanston Illinois.
Doris Day grew up here. She may have attended this theatre as a child.
I remember seeing “Carrie” at The Coronet. My friend who’d already seen it, grabbed my arm at film’s end(SpoilerAlert), when Amy Irving has a dream sequence. I nearly lept into the
80's. I also saw "Rocky" there as I recall. When it tried to become a concert venue in the90’s, I remember reading that the proprietors met nothing but community resistance. Particulary from the then Alderman, possibly not even from that ward.It involved the sale of liquor. And a dispute about patrons being allowed to only drink in the lobby, and not carry the drinks into the auditorium. A technicality apparently in the proposed license process.
I think even spotters were snuck in to catch any possible “wrongdoing” in the act.
A mindset that was probably part of why Evanston was dry until 1975. Though the Coronet’s previous porno incarnation couldn’t have helped.
In the building known as The Main next door was Amazing Grace. Another venue that featured folk music, etc. Along with a barber shop, restaurant called the Main, and some other shops. I drove by there last week. The entire corner is gone. Aross on the S/W corner is the famous Main Street New Stand. The original neon sign adorning a newer structure.
The lobby was a fine design. It rose two stories and was filled with art deco “coronet” decorations. I hope someone, somewhere has a picture of it. But the time I saw the auditorium it was all painted white, but probably cool in its day as well.
B&K took it over in July 1936. It was widened, lengthened, and entirely remodeled, going from 600 seats to 1000.
“Plans by Pereira & Pereira call for a new front of smooth surfaced materials, a new lobby, foyer, and lounge, new seats with more space between and wider aisles.
Illuminated by indirect cove lighting, the new foyer will be paneled in bleached aspenwood trimmed with aluminum. The theater’s frontage will be increased to 53 feet and its depth to 182 feet."
Ha! I remember seeing ads for X-rated movies alongside the regular movies in the Chicago Tribune back in the late 70’s. My mom would flip out because we’d be snickering and laughing at the titles (“Debbie Does Dallas”) and grab the paper from us and then she’d look for the movie times herself!
Now as a parent to 3 boys myself, the Internet looms large with adult content so severe that it makes those old ads seem like cartoons!
I saw “The Apple Dumpling Gang” at the Coronet!
The Coronet in the period I frequented it (late 1960s on) often played foreign language films (its competition in the area was the Wilmette and sometimes the Evanston II). I saw a lot of great films there – Belle de jour, Shame, Day for Night – before I started seeing them first run on the near north side of Chicago.
What doesn’t seem to be mentioned here is that the Coronet was a renovation project. The building previously operated as a cinema under another name, and Park sounds right to me.
The Balaban & Katz part of the sign is now displayed in the Theatre Historical Society of America research library.
I was always upset to hear that this was torn down after being in its' location for so many years. A high school buddy of mine lived in the apartment right next door to this theater above that restaurant. Of all the years is been around I can only recall seeing one film there which was “Poltergeist”.