Coronado Performing Arts Center
314 N. Main Street,
Rockford,
IL
61101
314 N. Main Street,
Rockford,
IL
61101
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Showing 1 - 25 of 34 comments
Link to the Rockford Reminisce page about the Coronado with photos.
http://www.rockfordreminisce.com/entertainment-venues-3/
This article is about a theater seat dedicated to Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen due to his fund raising efforts for the Coronado.
http://www.rrstar.com/article/20160412/SPECIAL/160419966
yes its awesome love the lighting
Awesome theater! My masters graduation was there!!!
I have uploaded the full-page grand opening grand opening ad from October 8th, 1927 as well as an close-up of the text on that ad. It can be found on this theatre’s photo page.
The marquee sort of mirrors that of the Genessee Theatre in Waukegan.
I didn’t know there was already a renovated performing arts theatre in Rockford, that is “hoping to break even”.
I guess that doesn’t bode well for any renovation hopes for either the Midway or the Times Theatre’s. On the Midway page it’s listed for sale, but it includes an entire building that would need attention and other tenants.
Lost: Great job, as usual!
Lost: This piece of information is most interesting as I have never seen a NRHP form. I’ve talked to the folks at this theatre and hope to see it, in person, someday as it is a magnificant atmosphere!
It’s a shame how under-utilized this theatre is. It is a gorgeous building and a great place to see live entertainment.
The Rockford Register-Star reports that the Coronado operated at a $150K deficit for FY2007, on target with projections; the Executive Director says the best case scenario is breaking even. 120,000 people attended events at the theater in the past year, up from only 52,000 in 2005.
A friend of mine and former theatre projectionist in the Atlanta area recently told me about the book that the late, Jim Rankin, mentioned in a 2004 post. The Coronado Theatre: Rockford’s Crown Jewel is one that I hope to order through Friends of the Coronado. Thanks Jim and RIP.
Lost Memory: What a beautiful photo of a restored Coronado. Congrats to the fine folks of Rockford Illinois!
This theatre is truly a special atmospheric and is truly Rockford’s gem.
I was in Rockford Illinois many years ago, but didn’t know of this theatre as I didn’t have the old theatre ‘bug’ then, unfortunately.
Russell Phillips Photos:
Auditorium
Coronado Lobby
The correct address for the Coronado is 314 North Main Street, not 311 Elm Street.
There is a link to a virtual tour of this theatre on the Coronado page of the Rockford Centre Events web site.
Let’s try that again:
http://tinyurl.com/g2ulj
Here is a photo:
http://tinyurl.com/g6jxf
Chuck: I can’t seem to get any of these photobucket sites to work.
From Russell Phillips' Galleries:
Coronado Lobby, Early 1980s
Coronado Auditorium, Early 1980s
The Coronado’s new book is very colorful, but it would have been the greater had it had some of the interior details shots shown on this photographer’s site: http://www.pbase.com/affablebeef/rockford Let’s hope that they remain there for the public to enjoy for years to come!
A nice new book with many glossy, colorful pages titled: “THE CORONADO: ROCKFORD’S CROWN JEWEL” is reviewed at this location with ordering address listed there: http://www.cinematour.com/bookshelf.php?id=73
Bruce, your example of the Fox-Oakland is on target. The show starts on the sidewalk, as they say. That project brought a lot of notoriety to the Fox-Oakland, so obviously the marquee means something. I wonder if a similar effort to the Loew’s Kings Theatre in Brooklyn would spur interest in that theatre? Or the Uptown in Chicago? Did you really convince Disney to put a new sign on the El Capitan? You must be a persuasive speaker! Maybe you should talk to the Borough of Brooklyn about the Kings. Seriously, maybe that would work there. If the City is trying to sell the place, maybe they should spend a couple of hundred thousand and do a marquee and sign.
Of course Bruce and Scott are right that a fitting restoriation should include a suitable sized vertical sign, especially if that was the case when the theatre opened. Too puny a sign can indeed look embarrasing as was the case with the initial one on the RIVERSIDE in Milwaukee when that theatre opened, and which resulted in a perhaps unique Supreme Court case, as detailed in the 4th Comment on its page here: /theaters/2260/