Quad Cinema
5700 N. Belt West,
Belleville,
IL
62226
5700 N. Belt West,
Belleville,
IL
62226
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 30 comments
Demolished in December 2010.
4 screens on November 8th, 1985. Grand opening ad posted.
Grand opening ad
Added the grand opening ad of BAC Cinema from September 2nd 1966…. Played “Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf” on opening night
So many memories of movies at the BAC Quad. Among the highlights: Titanic, The Beverly Hillbillies, Look Who’s Talking Too, Pocahontas…and I was even once forced to see one of the My Little Pony movies because my big sister dragged me along ;)
It had the best popcorn in all of Belleville, too!
Should be listed as demolished.
It would be nice if they could tear down that godawful strip mall on the other side of the Skyview. Not only is the strip mall completely devoid of any cultural or architectural merit, the lights from it are very distracting to moviegoers.
A related story: View link
Interesting.
This is apparently actually going to happen: View link
yeah if when to the quad cinema to the concession stand and asked for a small popcorn and small drink, some how you walked away with the 2 large drink and 1 popcorn combo he he. forceful sales tactics!
always had free drink refills and popcorn refills. I always thought it was funny when the people walked in and sat down, grab a greasy used popcorn bag from the trash and try to get a free refill
funny story. Titanic was playing. summer of 1997? the theater sat some 750 people 800 max. Never in my life for the whole summer pickup some many nasty tissues and seen old and young and men and women walk out crying. lol funny as hell. It was always funny when we took out the trash out back you could see people parking in our lot watching a sneak peak of the skyline drive in without paying, EMT, Police, you name it
I too worked for the Ritz then it closed then i transfered to the Quad till the day it closed because of the kerasotes vs bloomer dispute. Best memories working there! funny stories. When Star Wars (eps 1) opened showed midnight showing I worked the box office. 20 min into the film the sound broke! 30 min passed as the manage Dave Romantic fanatically junked parts to make a make shift sound system. A lot customer camped out. Some entertained the crowd by role playing on the stage of 800 seat. We had some 755 people seated! I was told last time that many was when Gone with the Wind played again there!
The four-screen QUAD opened in November 1985.
I sorely miss this theater. They gave me my first job when I was 16, and then my sister a few years later. My sister was working there when Kerasotes pulled out, and shortly for Mr. Bloomer when just the 1 screen was open. From people close to the situation (for some reason people don’t want to talk about this), I was told that there was structural damage to the ‘new side’ that contained the smaller three screens. This was obviously going to cost quite a bit of money to fix. Kerasotes believed that Bloomer should pay for it, since they were leasing the theater. Bloomer wanted Kerasotes to pay for it because they were the ones using the theater. Based on the state that Bloomer has let the drive in get to, I don’t think he is interested in sinking one dime into the theater business. Kerasotes obviously was not going to renew the lease with 3 unusable screens. Mr. Bloomer did reopen the main screen, but that didn’t last very long. Let’s just say that he doesn’t have the best reputation as a manager among former Quad employees, and a lot of the ‘vets’ moved on.
Sorry if that was too opinionated at the end. I’m just sad to see the Quad abandoned, and the Skyview possibly meeting the same fate.
Heh…and so goes the impending destruction of the last remaining drive-in theatre in the St. Louis area!
The Quad and Skyview Drive-In are currently for sale (as they have been for years).
View link
2 and a half million gets you both of them!
What is going on inside the Quad? The lobby is filled with theater seats. Is this a sign or restoration or the death throes of a soon to be demolished theater? Does anyone have any answers?
I am haunted by this place. I had another dream about it last night.
The marquee is gone!?! What a classic theatre marquee it was. The Quad, or just the “B.A.C. Cinema”(before the three-screen addition) as I knew for most of my life, was a majestic, 800-seat showplace. The countless classic films I saw there as a child – and as an adult when I worked for the Bloomer Amusement Company. All of the Star Wars films on their original releases, “Alien”, “Aliens” and the many amazing 70mm presentations! I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to fill-in a few times as projectionist for then manager Joe Schweiss. I am especially proud to have run at least one 70mm presentation during this time. That projection booth was incredible! I truely wish this great showplace was still open. Even if the main screen were to re-open – hell, I would travel from California for that – for the opportunity to celebrate the revival one of America’s great movie palaces – and the chance to relive some great memories!
Thanks for clearing that up… I did see on another site the the marquee has been scraped, thats sad! The Quad does need to been saved and reopened. I think the last film I seen was Back to the Future at the Quad. agian good times!!!
My comment about deed restrictions was referring to the practice of many companies, Kerasotes included, of selling their closed theatres under the condition that the new owner not exhibit film. In the case of the Quad, they didn’t own it so you could open it up. There are many old theatres standing all over the country that can’t be used for their intended purpose because of deed restrictions. In answer to another question, no, I don’t think the marquee was saved. It was very large.
I have no idea what that referred to, but I must say that if the Quad were able to rise from the ashes that I would have no complaints. That theatre had the best picture and sound in the Belleville/St. Louis area, and there was barely a bad seat in the house. They just don’t make theatres like that anymore.
there is always that nasty deed restriction left behind. Curious as to what the restrictions are? Last show I saw at the Quad was Eraser Head 12am, what a great theater the massive curved screen and golden drapery. The main screen had a great feel. The Quad needs to be resurrected. Is the signage stashed somewhere?
This is definitely NOT a defense of Kerasotes, it’s a defense of BAC Theatres. The Quad Cinema was my favorite theatre in the entire St. Louis metro area, mostly because, at the time, it had the largest screen and the best sound system. Plus, it was one of the first to use a seating arrangement similar to stadium seating. I saw all of the Star Wars movies there and even the Special Editions when they were released. I grew up going to this theatre as well as the Ritz. It depresses me just as much that this theatre is no longer operating.
I sure hope we don’t start defending Kerasotes Theatres here. It’s a shame that the Quad is closed. I was told that there were structural concerns. I don’t think Kerasotes was that interested in Belleville. They sold the Ritz at the same time they closed the Quad. You could see this theatre was a great theatre by walking around. The fact is that is looked tired right after Kerasotes left. I would say that was their fault. They are the cause of the removal of the very eye catching roadside marquee. It’s a shame, but if you look through the theatres in Illinois and Indiana there are quite a few that Kerasotes had their hands on that are no longer with us. Even when the building continues standing, there is always that nasty deed restriction left behind.