Hoosier Cinemas

The Hoosier Cinemas located at the former site of the Sherwood Inn opened its doors by Kerasotes in September 1986 by the father-and-son team of Fred and Nick Herthel of Bloomington, with Nick being father’s son who was also an attorney. The original manager is John Arnold of Mitchell, and the original projectionist is Bill Jenkins of Bedford. Shannon Marie Clark also serves as its original assistant manager, who unexpectedly got married right after it opened.

The building was originally owned by Winfred and Virginia Riddle who bought the building in 1984, but Fred Herthel immediately came by, and the Riddles became involved with Kerasotes. After just 10 years of operation, Kerasotes closed the theater down on September 3, 1996. Though it was unknown why the theater closed, but there were rumors that changes will happen that summer according to its last general manager Cindy Hartsook, and lease also played a partial role despite receiving their September 1996 payment and their building’s expiration date being October 31, 1996. It was officially confirmed that the refusal of an extensive of their lease was the cause of the closure.

However, the closure didn’t last long. Don Williams, purchased the theater the following month in October 1996, and was quickly renovated. On November 29, 1996, the Hoosier Cinemas reopened under independent ownership by Don Williams, alongside his brothers Johnny and Larry. Bill Jenkins continued to serve as the projectionist after reopening. It was closed either by or during the early-2000’s.

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