Princess Theatre
60 N. Chicago Street,
Joliet,
IL
60432
60 N. Chicago Street,
Joliet,
IL
60432
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Balaban & Katz Corp., Great States, Publix Theaters Corporation
Architects: R.G. Hoehn, Frank J. Lapasso
Functions: Office Space
Nearby Theaters
Like another former downtown Joliet movie house the Mode Theatre, the old Princess Theatre, located on Chicago Street at Van Buren Street, has been been converted into an office building.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Boxoffice of August 12, 1950, said that the Princess Theatre would soon reopen after extensive renovation. The architect for the project was Frank J. Lapasso.
The item said that the Princess had opened in 1912, operated by the Royal Theatre Co., and was taken over by Great States Theatres in the 1920s. The renovated house would be operated by Publix Great States.
The Princess never quite got the best movies. The top movies went to the Rialto or the Mode and the Princess showed first run B movies. If there was a horror movie released, you can bet it was showing at the Princess. No balcony. Just a good sized single screen theatre.
It’s likely that the 1950 Boxoffice item I cited earlier got the year of the Princess Theatre’s opening wrong, and it actually opened in 1913. The March 15, 1913, issue of The American Contractor said that architect R. G. Hohen (I’ve also found it spelled Hoehn, which I think is more likely correct) had designed a brick theater, 45x165 feet, for the Princess Theatre, L. M. Rubens, proprietor. That is about the size of the Princess Theatre’s original footprint, judging from the satellite view. Excavation was underway as of March, 1913.