Palace Theatre
1836 S. 15th Street,
Springfield,
IL
62703
1836 S. 15th Street,
Springfield,
IL
62703
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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.
Google Streetview June 2019 shows the building with a sign offering free movies every Friday night. Still somewhat functioning as a theatre.
Here’s a photo as it looks in September 2008:
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