Grand Theatre
509 E. Washington Street,
Springfield,
IL
62701
509 E. Washington Street,
Springfield,
IL
62701
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The Kunz Brothers opened the 300-seat Grand Theatre on the North Side of the Square on May 7, 1910. The venue added a 2,000 pound plate glass mirror screen to have a bright, larger than life screen - 10' x 14'. Co-Owner Adolph F. Kunz said the screen cost $500. The Kunz’s programming was different - very much one of a pre-art film approach in which anything involving world exploration would play there. The Kunzs appreciated the ability of film to present the wider global society to their audience - which was apparently never that large.
In 1912, Kunz said of the movie theater industry, “I think the nickel show will disappear.” He envisioned dime and quarter movie houses with “better and more expensive (movies) will be in demand all the time;” these longer films would allow people to spend hours at the theatre instead of a single hour or less. He suggested that the movie theater would be more important to communities than live stage opera houses.
Kunz also added a phone to be one of the first movie theaters in Springfield that you could call for showtimes. The Boys Candy store at 525 E. Washington was the de facto concession stand for the Grand. It’s safe to say that the Kunz Brothers, Edward and Adolph, understood the exhibition business model; but were not in a position with a single, non-capacity house to be leaders like Gus Kerasotes was. And the movies stopped in October of 1916 as the Grand scuffled against better theaters.
The venue became a retail furniture store for Westenberg Furniture and the building remained a retail spot until the early 1970s. Kunz continued in retail clothing sales until closing January 11, 1930 and passed the store to a competitor. But the location was probably best known for bargain shoes and a long-running Thom McAn shoe store through January of 1972. Likely just as well that they moved to new digs as not that long after the vacant building just gave up on July 21, 1972 self-demolishing in a collapse that injured nobody. The glass mirror screen, if still in the venue, would have undoubtedly been damaged beyond repair.