Palace Theatre
1836 S. 15th Street,
Springfield,
IL
62703
1836 S. 15th Street,
Springfield,
IL
62703
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The Palace opened in 1917 and was located on S. 15th Street near E. Laurel Street. It closed by the end of the 1920’s. The building still survives today, and is home to a church.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Here’s a photo as it looks in September 2008:
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Google Streetview June 2019 shows the building with a sign offering free movies every Friday night. Still somewhat functioning as a theatre.
The Palace Theatre was a neighborhood house in the silent era of cinema that struggled into the sound era. The cramped 500-seat venue launched December 2, 1915 with Darwin Karr in “The Call of the Sea” and Romain Fielding in “When Souls are Tried.” The Palace continued into 1931 as a silent house - the longest running silent house in Springfield which was not a compliment. The venue closed.
J.L. Bores took on the venue equipping it for sound later that year. This was very much a rarity as this may be the only single-owned, female operated theater in the City’s history. But it didn’t go her way with the theater closing twice within two years. The venue had a nice run as the non-profit Guild Theatre from 1935 to 1942 staging plays. They moved to the YMCA in 1942.
From that point it is taken on by the Workingmen’s Singing Society Hall / Workingmen’s Hall which became Musik Halle (later German Hall) by the German American Singing Society for more than 35 years. It became a house of worship in the late 1980s which it has remained into the 2020s.