Rex Theatre
322 7th Street,
Rockford,
IL
61104
322 7th Street,
Rockford,
IL
61104
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Firms: Peterson & Johnson
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Royal Theatre, Strand Theatre, Roxy Theatre
Nearby Theaters
This 400-seat theater opened around 1915 as the Royal Theatre. In 1926 it became the Strand Theatre, then in 1931 the Roxy Theatre. It had been renamed Rex Theatre by 1940, and remained in operation into the 1960’s. It has since been demolished.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
This house opened about 1915 as the Royal Theatre. The Prairie Style building was designed by the local architectural firm Peterson & Johnson. According to Rockford: 1920 and Beyond, by Eric A. Johnson, the house later operated as the Strand Theatre and then the Roxy Theatre before becoming the Rex.
The building originally had a “triumphal arch” entrance characteristic of small movie houses in the 1910s, and the peak of the arch could be seen above the streamlined marquee added later.
The Royal theatre opened as “Rockford Newest and Most Beautiful Moving Picture House” on September 12th, 1914. It reopened as the Strand theatre on February 12th, 1920 and listed as owned by Balaban & Katz in 1925. It reopened as Roxy on October 2nd, 1931 and as Rex on August 18th, 1939 and closed or stopped its ads in 1958. Grand opening ads and picture posted.
Royal theatre opening Sep 12, 1914 Rockford Register Star (Rockford, Illinois) Newspapers.com