Castle Theatre
Washington Street and East Street,
Bloomington,
IL
61701
Washington Street and East Street,
Bloomington,
IL
61701
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This was the 1st Castle Theatre opened in Bloomington, November 21, 1904. It was located at the northwest corner of Washington Street and East Street, which today is the site of the State Farm’s downtown office building. Programs included vaudeville and movie pictures. Closed with the opening of the new Castle Theatre in 1916.
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Photos added.
The pipe organ advertised on the marquee was installed by Hinners Organ Company of Perkin, Illinois in 1910. Hinners manufactured over 3,000 instruments, but less than 50 were installed in theatres, most of those in Illinois. A list of theatre installations shows this organ had 5 ranks, but did not supply information on the console.
The picture currently on the overview page can be dated to 1914, the year the movie on the marquee (Little Gray Lady) was released.
AA and WJ Gillingham built the Castle Theatre in a converted roller skating rink. Bathed in velvet red, it launched with 748 seats including six boxes. It began with “fashionable” vaudeville including short films on the Kinetograph. To distinguish from the Grand Opera House, it centered on films.
In 1910, the venue was remodeled including a $5,000 pipe organ by Hinners Organ Company of nearby Pekin, Illinois. Harry Wilson was the organist. But the Castle only netted a short-term lease of six years expiring in 1916. With the lease coming due, a proposal by the Knights of Pythias would have created a new Castle in much the same way nearby Seebrook, Illinois created its new Castle Hall. A prime lot at Washington Street near Prairie would house the multipurpose building.
The Castle Theatre programming did not make it to the New Castle, however. A city inspection in March 1915 ended the Castle’s reign early as the building was thought to be quite unsafe. It closed following the March 27, 1915 showings of “The Open Drawbridge,” “The Quality of Mercy,” and “The Millinery Man” supported by Harry Wilson at the pipe organ playing “Bum Diddle De Dum Bum That’s It” as the final organ number. The Castle was soon razed by Jeff Coit. Manager Lyons moved all the shows to the Chatterton Theatre.
As for the Knights of Pythias, they would find a new location for their proposal and the Castle proceeded as a new theater with the multipurpose building elements finding new occupants. Architect Aaron T. Simmons of George Howell Harris & Associates altered the original plans of the high rise.
The Chatterton Theatre programming was to be moved to the New Castle upon completion according to ads and articles. That arrangement actually ended in November - two months prior to the New Castle’s debut as the Chatterton returned to live programming. That six story structure’s with the former Castle’s film programming launched on January 24, 1916. Organist Harry Wilson would spend time helping to create the new pipe organ designed for the new Castle which he would play at that opening.