It was built for $20,000 for the Mississippi Valley Eastern Amusement Company, 804 Times Building, St. Louis. The president and architect was F. L. Hopkins.
From CONSTRUCTION NEWS, September 28, 1912: “Two theaters, one at Racine and the other at Madison, Wis., each bearing the name of Orpheum (1), have recently been completed and opened to the public. … The building at Madison is a theater building exclusively, while that at Racine is much larger and contains a number of offices as well as the theater. While differing widely in general plan the two buildings are of the same type of construction, the theater interiors are designed along similar lines, and a description of the construction and architectural treatment of one applies generally to the other. … These theaters are similar to the Class 5 theater, as defined by the building ordinance of the city of Chicago, and each has a total seating capacity of about 1,500.
The walls are of brick, resting on reinforced concrete spread foundations. Floors are of reinforced concrete. They are finished in most part with a cement surface, but a liberal use is also made of marble tile for this purpose. Roofs are of flat arch construction supported on steel trusses. The buildings are fireproof throughout with the exception of the cantilever supports of the mezzanine floor and balconies, which are of the slow burning mill construction. The interior finish generally is in ornamental plaster. … The mezzanine floor, containing eleven divisions or compartments, is a distinctive feature of these theaters, suggested by the latest practice in London and on the continent of Europe. This practice is unusual in America. … This arrangement of the mezzanine floor, where adopted, has been found to be a popular feature, since each division of the mezzanine floor has many of the advantages of a box without the corresponding expense. Four proscenium boxes are provided. The mezzanine floor is reached by stairways from the foyer on the main floor.
The balcony is so arranged as to provide practically both a balcony and a gallery, but without a sharp division between the two. The lower section is entered through tunnels, while the upper section is entered at a higher level from the rear. The two sections are separate only as to means of entrance and exit, the aisles of one section, as is common in larger theaters, being offset in location with reference to those of the other section. The architectural treatment of both buildings is in the style of Louis XIV. … The general contractors of the Racine theater were the Geo. J. Hoffman Company of South Bend, Ind.”
It was exactly sixty years ago this afternoon that Anton Schuessler, Jr., John Schuessler and Robert Peterson saw “The African Lion” at the LOOP Theatre.
Opening ceremonies were recorded by WLIP for rebroadcast on Sunday from 5:30 to 6 PM with Jerry Golden announcing. Kenosha County Board Chairman Peter Harris met Racine County Board Chairman Martin Herzog to cut the ribbon. Jay Rhodes welcomed the MID-CITY to Somers, and the Kenosha VFW Post 1865 Jr. Drum and Bugle Corps performed. The program began at 6:50 with short subjects including the Popular Science feature “Stocking Yarn”, Screen Song cartoon “Readin', Ritin' and Rhythmatic”, and Warner Pathe World News. The second show began at 9:40.
Builders and suppliers included Brimeyer, Grellinger and Rose, Architects (Milwaukee); Holger Pahl, General Contractor and Builder; Ruffalo Decorating Company, Kenosha and Racine; Dave Speaker Electric Company; Victor Manhardt, R.C.A. Equipment; Kenosha Lumber and Coal Company; Theatres Candy Company; Consumers Company Building Materials; Kenosha Boiler and Structural Company; Martin Petersen Sheet Metal Works; Thompson Concrete Block Company; Bouterse and Sons Excavating and Grading; Bill Brittle Well Drilling; Dominick Tirabassi; Rosko Sign Service; Kenosha Glass Company; Industrial Roofing Company; Motiograph Projection and Sound; Krump Construction Company, Milwaukee; White Way Electric Sign Company, Chicago; Cyclone Fence Company, Milwaukee; and Unit Structure, Incorporated.
When the COLONIAL’s Barton organ was removed and its pipes were being carried out, the police were summoned by a passerby who thought the pipes were some sort of missiles. I’m told this scenario has happened elsewhere.
The GENEVA Theatre was the effort of several prominent area industrialists including chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr., Nash Motors division superintendent Robert N. Lee of Kenosha, Nash Motors vice-president Walter Alford of Kenosha, cartoonist Sidney Smith of “Andy Gump” fame, brewer William Pabst, Jr. of Milwaukee, and several others. The first operating company was Community Theatres, of which Pabst was president.
The ANTIOCH Theatre was originally to be called the NEW MAJESTIC Theatre. It began as a co-partnership between Lyman B. Grice of Antioch and William C. Bryant of Bristol, Wisconsin (in neighboring Kenosha County). The theatre, with seats for 400 patrons, had a projected cost of $40,000.
Groundbreaking began on Wednesday, September 26, 1923. Soon after, Grice and Bryant sold a half-interest in the venture to James P. Johnson (a local proprietor of a resort hotel and the father of Oliver G. Johnson, who was managing the MAJESTIC Theatre in Antioch) and Albert L. Fell.
In January 1924, Oliver Johnson announced he was closing the MAJESTIC to move into the new ANTIOCH Theatre under construction and would be ending his lease with Barney Naber on Main Street, where the MAJESTIC had been since April 27, 1919, and that Naber would be leasing the former theatre to William Ross for a restaurant. Oliver G. Johnson brought in his brother Frank Johnson to co-manage the theatre.
The motto of the ANTIOCH Theatre was “The Public is Right.” The first feature presentation was Zane Grey’s “The Wanderer of the Wasteland.”
Fred B. Swanson, who began managing the ANTIOCH by December, 1925, was most associated with the success and improvements of the theatre, and remained as manager until May 21, 1941 when he purchased the building to become sole owner. He also owned other movie houses in the Midwest.
In October 1947, Swanson announced he had completed the remodeling of the ANTIOCH, which gave the theatre an additional 100 seats in the balcony.
On October 31, 1957, Swanson sold the ANTIOCH to William Goeway of Antioch, who took control on November 4. He also owned the nearby LAKES (nee CRYSTAL, now PM&L) Theatre. Goeway announced a new deluxe concession department and extensive remodeling of the theatre.
On May 31, 1962, Goeway sold the ANTIOCH to Henry C. Rhyan of the FAMILY Outdoor Theater in Grayslake and moved to Jacksonville, Florida where he intended to continue in the theatre business.
The ORPHEUM’s owners since 2013 Gus and Mary Paras plan to do a $200,000 historic replication of its original six-story 63-foot 1926 vertical sign designed by Rapp and Rapp. The current steel face will be replaced with an aluminum replica using energy-efficient point lights in the original configuration. It’s still uncertain whether there will be chasers. In the 1930s the word “NEW” was removed from the top, and then it was “dumbed down” to what’s seen today.
The Paras family has already done restoration on the facade, marquee, ticket booth, roof, plaster, downstairs lavatories, dressing rooms, and HVAC. He said the community excitement was encouraging. Paras got a city facade restoration matching grant of up to $20,000 last year.
Save `The Dupe' …
… and save those memories of Main Street
(July 29, 2005, by John McCarron, who teaches, consults and writes on urban affairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember?
Remember the scary sword fight between Sinbad the Sailor and the skeleton man? Or Sinbad’s face-off with the cyclops on the island of Colossa, where he had to go to break the spell cast over his beloved princess Parisa, who had been reduced to the size of a pocket knife by the evil sorcerer Sokurah?
I didn’t think so. Neither did I before I tweaked my memory on the Internet. What I do remember, like it was yesterday, is that sweet feeling of independence, walking down Main Street, Lombard, with my 12-year-old buddies, chores finished, fancy-free on a Saturday afternoon, off to see “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” at the DuPage Theatre.
As always, the 1959 action movie was only part of the show at “The Dupe.” Some of my older classmates had begun to hang out with (groan) girls, so first we’d cruise the balcony to see who was necking with whom. Next we’d go down to the long, glassy candy counter for an obligatory box of Milk Duds, maybe even a roll of caramel bull’s-eyes—if the lawn-mowing money held up. Then it was time to settle into the red velour seats, under a fake black sky with twinkling stars, and trip away with Sinbad, or Hercules or Jason and the Argonauts. Loved those sandal flicks.
Ah, The Dupe. Say it ain’t so. Say they’re not going to tear her down.
They can’t tear her down. Not after more than a decade of civic efforts to save her. Not after those efforts secured charitable contributions, plus federal and state pledges, worth $5.5 million. Not after one of the nation’s top restoration architects—Daniel P. Coffey, the guy who helped restore the Chicago and the Oriental and the Palace theaters in the North Loop—has drawn up a sensational plan, not just to save the old theater as a performing arts center, but to infuse Lombard’s anemic downtown with a $30 million wrap-around development of luxury condos and lively storefronts.
Most curious of all, how can they knock down The Dupe when powerful DuPage County politicians are pleading with the Lombard Village Board to give preservation one last chance? U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), state Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) and former Illinois Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale)—none previously known as gargoyle-hugging preservationists—are urging the Village Board to reconsider its June vote authorizing demolition.
In some ways you can’t blame the Village Board for losing patience with the project. Ten years ago the volunteer Friends of the DuPage Theatre said a developer was lined up to convert the building into offices and a studio for making educational videos. When that deal fell through the village took title to the 77-year-old theater and its attached offices and storefronts. In 2001 the board appointed a blue-ribbon committee to come up with a plan, but it was slow going.
Seems the “new urbanism” that has inspired towns like Elmhurst, Downers Grove and Arlington Heights to rejuvenate downtowns around restored train stations and theaters has been, well, slow to catch on in the lilac village. It’s still tough to compete there with the big-box discounters on Roosevelt Road and the 18-screen cinema at the Yorktown mall. And public-private partnerships of the kind needed to save The Dupe remain a tough sell politically. It’s still a tax-a-phobic town, even if the John Birch Society long ago closed its anti-communist “library” off St. Charles Road.
Still, there was excitement earlier this year with the unveiling of Coffey’s plan for preservation and redevelopment. His client, developer Richard Curto of RSC & Associates, would restore the theater’s “Spanish courtyard” interior a la the 1928 design by Rapp & Rapp, including those twinkling stars of my youth. In the parking lot south of the theater would rise a five-story condo-over-stores structure of compatible design (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). Behind the stores, out of sight under the condos, would be two levels of parking for 237 cars, including spaces set aside on weekdays for commuters using the Metra station across the street.
In short, the project would catapult Lombard into the forefront of new urbanism and transit-oriented design. Who knows, the town might even snag a Starbucks. Best of all, contends Coffey, the property and sales taxes from the development, plus the state and federal grants already pledged, would cover the $8.5 million cost of restoring the theater.
But it may not happen. There is bad blood between preservationists and certain members of the Village Board. Deadlines have been missed. Harsh words have been exchanged in public. Other condo developers likely are standing by to pay Lombard serious money for the site—so long as they don’t have to save the theater. Why take a chance on preservation?
“It seems to have come down to plain old personality problems,” said Coffey.
That may be. But for this son of Lombard, this long-ago marcher in the Lilac Parade, it’s also about memories. And the faint hope that some Saturday afternoon in the not too distant future, a 12-year-old and his buddies will be able to walk, not ride, down Main Street, buy some Milk Duds and slip into another world—to the island of Colossa, perhaps—under the stars at the good old Dupe.
WINDOM, MINN. – For eight months, it sat empty. No blockbusters, no popcorn, no Saturday matinees. In the movie industry’s massive switch from film to digital, it looked like the little State Theater was yet another casualty. But then residents came to its rescue. This month, its classic, red marquee will rise again. People in small cities across Minnesota are rallying around their Main Street movie theaters, helping them pay for the pricey new digital projectors needed as 35-millimeter film is phased out. Sick of seeing businesses shutter their downtown storefronts, they’re writing checks, throwing fundraising galas and convincing city councils to chip in.
The State Theater, now a nonprofit, switched out its whirring projector for a digital behemoth in May. The Historic Comet Theater in Cook, Minn., raised $81,000 for new gear via the Kickstarter fundraising website. This weekend in Luverne, Minn., volunteers hosted a speakeasy-style party, with classic cars and live music, to help pay for the Palace Theatre’s upgrade.
“If people are going to want to move back to small-town, rural Minnesota, there’s gotta be a reason to come back,” said Dianne Ossenfort, president of the Palace’s board. “And a downtown theater is one of the reasons.”
As film gets more difficult to find, movie lovers have worried most about small-town theaters. The expense of buying a new digital projector — plus upping ventilation and retrofitting a booth — often exceeds $60,000. That’s a big figure for a single-screen theater, some of which are open only on weekends. A year ago, industry groups predicted that thousands of theaters would close rather than convert. Some have. But many little theaters are provoking passion. Across the country, residents are helping pay for the digital equipment, via county grants and online fundraising.
“In a lot of cases, it’s the only entertainment for miles around,” said Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theatre Owners.
The movie industry’s conversion has no hard deadline, but film versions of the latest flicks will be tough to procure by the end of the year. So far, about 75 percent of theaters nationwide have made the switch, Corcoran said. Drive-ins are lagging — about half have yet to switch. Many might be waiting until this season’s end, he said.
“It’s an enormous changeover of the industry in a very short period of time,” Corcoran said.
The State Theater’s marquee sits in 19 pieces, dusty and dented, on the floor of a construction shop in Windom. But volunteers hope it will be welded, painted and mounted by late September — just in time for an anniversary party. A year ago, residents in this southwestern city of 4,600 formed a nonprofit, raised $13,000 and bought the State through a contract-for-deed. Then they cleaned. Friends brought brooms, buckets and bleach.
“We scraped up gum that had two coats of paint on it,” said Buckwheat Johnson, president of Windom Theater Inc. “Two different colors!”
Their little theater up and running, the volunteers then began raising money again — this time for a digital projector. Thanks to a couple of big checks, one from a woman who grew up going to the theater, they brought in $20,000. The county contributed a low-interest loan. Then a guy called: He had a used digital projector, much cheaper than new.
“Our theater is looking good and running good,” Jean Fast, secretary of the nonprofit, said with pride.
The movies themselves look better — sharp and clear, showing after showing. They sound better, too, thanks to new so-called surround sound. Plus, now the film doesn’t start on fire, as “Kung Fu Panda” once did. Johnson used to get those calls.
The Civic Theatre in Pretty Prairie closed because of a storm that swept through the community in 2013, but plans are to reopen the theatre soon by cooperating with the school district and allowing local high school students a chance to learn entrepreneurial and business skills, said Darrell Albright, the theater director. He and his wife, Joyce, both in their 70s, will serve as advisers. The Civic Theatre needs a new roof and work done to stabilize the west wall.
The Civic originally opened in June 1936 but was closed by 1955. In 1981, the Albrights reopened the Civic with its original wood-backed seats and showed classic films such as Gary Cooper in “High Noon.”
Albright grew up in a home that didn’t allow dancing, playing cards or going to the movies. Running the Civic “answered a lifelong rebellion,” he said. He’s hopeful about passing his affection for the town’s movie theater on to the next generation. “You never know what you will awaken in a kid as far as an interest in life,” Albright said.
Darrell Albright stands of the stage of the Civic Theatre in Pretty Prairie. The theatre opened in 1936 and had closed by the 1970s. Albright moved there in 1982 and reopened the theater with his wife, Joyce. They showed old movies and had play productions in the building until the summer of 2013 when a storm ripped through Pretty Prairie and high winds tore the roof off the building. The theater hasn’t reopened since the storm, but there is a plan in the works to have the high school students take it on as an entrepreneurial project. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle)
No Wal-Mart at Keno site; Plan Commission denies request to change land plan (Kenosha News, April 14, 2015)
PLEASANT PRAIRIE — The village’s Plan Commission on Monday night voted unanimously to deny alternatives to amend its comprehensive plan, including one that involved a proposal for a “big box” retailer at the site of the Keno Drive-In by property owner Steve Mills of Bear Development to change the comprehensive plan to allow for a 150,000-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter. T The hearing was preceded by an informal two-hour “open village forum” which drew as many as 100 people, many supporters of keeping the drive-in open. Mills said that while his family enjoyed the drive-in, he acquired the property so it could be developed and said making the drive-in viability would require upgrades that would be “prohibitive financially.” Mills said people who want to support it should put together a non-profit organization, hold fundraisers to prove to donors that it can be viable. “But it’s not the responsibility of me or my family to provide that,” he said. Mills said he would be willing to support the community’s efforts if there was interest.
Eli Shai Riley, who attends LakeView Technology Academy, said he and a group of students have a proposal that would include the Keno Drive-In and want to work with Mills. Riley, Austin Skundberg and Nathan Davis described a plan to have a slightly downsized Keno Drive-In bolstered by restaurants. “We hope to work with Bear Realty to develop the best plan for everyone,” he said.
Joe Mangi, former Kenosha Unified School District superintendent, lauded the village for keeping the community family-oriented, though he said he did not want to see the village without the Keno.
“Why would we give up a 70-year-old jewel … for a big-box store?” he said. “It’s Pleasant Prairie. It isn’t Everywhere USA. Wal-Mart creates blight wherever they go. They’ll knock out the Piggly Wiggly. … They are like an amoeba. We have eight big-box stores in our community already,” he said. “We’ve got only one Keno Drive-In, and that is part of our history.”
Balaban & Katz engineers have accomplished an innovation in sound improvements for the Pantages Theater, it is reported, creating, through acoustic achievements, an advance step in talking picture reproduction. Certain “dead” spots in the Pantages proved a difficult handicap in the proper presentation of sound pictures. But after four weeks of extensive acoustical work the engineers have achieved perfect sound, it is said.
Three people were killed at the Proctor’s and twelve others injured on February 23, 1934 in a basement explosion blamed on accumulated gases. The dead included Patrolman Patrick Whalen, Carl Gruber, an electrical engineer, and James Frazier, 31. The blast ripped out the Proctor’s lobby and wrecked a car outside.
(DAILY HERALD, Thursday, May 25, 1950) The new Towne theatre on Grand Ave. in Fox Lake will be opened
Saturday evening, May 27, marking a big step forward in the growth of the community.
The theatre, operated by the Robert Helson Corporation, will offer as its first attraction “The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady” which opened in the Oriental Theatre in Chicago only two weeks ago. The doors will open at 6:30 p. m. and the first performance starts at 7:00 p. m.
The Towne will be under the management of Jonas Fugett, long time employee of the Helson firm, headed by Robert T. Held of Chicago and Robert C. Nelson, well-known Lake
County attorney and school board attorney for the Fox Lake Grade school.
The new theatre is of the most modern design with every facility for patrons' comfort as well as entertainment. More than 600 Kroehler Pushback seats have been installed. This new type of seat makes it unnecessary to stand when someone desires to pass to and from other seats in the aisle. Those who desire hard-of-hearing aids may ask the head usher and they will be provided without charge.
The screen is a Starke custom built Cycloramic screen which is the newest type of screen and the first type of screen with any major improvement for vision from the
sides of the theatre made in the past 20 years. The projection and sound equipment is high intensity Motiograph 35 carbon-arc, the best available equipment on the market. The draperies are beautiful sateen finish
fireproof material. The carpeting is extra thick and is in a beautiful design of four shades of gray.
One large wall surface of the lobby is adorned with a “black-light” mural of the Lake Region painted
by Hans Teichert, the best theatre decorator in the United States.
The refreshment accommodations are complete, popcorn, cakes, candy bars, etc. The building, which is one of the very few completely fireproof theatres in Lake or McHenry counties, is finished in Indiana limestone with three all-glass entrance doors.
Ample free parking facilities have been provided for patrons of the theatre, and the operators have promised that every effort will be made to obtain the latest and best film fare.
It was built for $20,000 for the Mississippi Valley Eastern Amusement Company, 804 Times Building, St. Louis. The president and architect was F. L. Hopkins.
From CONSTRUCTION NEWS, September 28, 1912: “Two theaters, one at Racine and the other at Madison, Wis., each bearing the name of Orpheum (1), have recently been completed and opened to the public. … The building at Madison is a theater building exclusively, while that at Racine is much larger and contains a number of offices as well as the theater. While differing widely in general plan the two buildings are of the same type of construction, the theater interiors are designed along similar lines, and a description of the construction and architectural treatment of one applies generally to the other. … These theaters are similar to the Class 5 theater, as defined by the building ordinance of the city of Chicago, and each has a total seating capacity of about 1,500. The walls are of brick, resting on reinforced concrete spread foundations. Floors are of reinforced concrete. They are finished in most part with a cement surface, but a liberal use is also made of marble tile for this purpose. Roofs are of flat arch construction supported on steel trusses. The buildings are fireproof throughout with the exception of the cantilever supports of the mezzanine floor and balconies, which are of the slow burning mill construction. The interior finish generally is in ornamental plaster. … The mezzanine floor, containing eleven divisions or compartments, is a distinctive feature of these theaters, suggested by the latest practice in London and on the continent of Europe. This practice is unusual in America. … This arrangement of the mezzanine floor, where adopted, has been found to be a popular feature, since each division of the mezzanine floor has many of the advantages of a box without the corresponding expense. Four proscenium boxes are provided. The mezzanine floor is reached by stairways from the foyer on the main floor. The balcony is so arranged as to provide practically both a balcony and a gallery, but without a sharp division between the two. The lower section is entered through tunnels, while the upper section is entered at a higher level from the rear. The two sections are separate only as to means of entrance and exit, the aisles of one section, as is common in larger theaters, being offset in location with reference to those of the other section. The architectural treatment of both buildings is in the style of Louis XIV. … The general contractors of the Racine theater were the Geo. J. Hoffman Company of South Bend, Ind.”
January 24, 1936.
As seen in May, 1983.
It was exactly sixty years ago this afternoon that Anton Schuessler, Jr., John Schuessler and Robert Peterson saw “The African Lion” at the LOOP Theatre.
Opening ceremonies were recorded by WLIP for rebroadcast on Sunday from 5:30 to 6 PM with Jerry Golden announcing. Kenosha County Board Chairman Peter Harris met Racine County Board Chairman Martin Herzog to cut the ribbon. Jay Rhodes welcomed the MID-CITY to Somers, and the Kenosha VFW Post 1865 Jr. Drum and Bugle Corps performed. The program began at 6:50 with short subjects including the Popular Science feature “Stocking Yarn”, Screen Song cartoon “Readin', Ritin' and Rhythmatic”, and Warner Pathe World News. The second show began at 9:40.
Builders and suppliers included Brimeyer, Grellinger and Rose, Architects (Milwaukee); Holger Pahl, General Contractor and Builder; Ruffalo Decorating Company, Kenosha and Racine; Dave Speaker Electric Company; Victor Manhardt, R.C.A. Equipment; Kenosha Lumber and Coal Company; Theatres Candy Company; Consumers Company Building Materials; Kenosha Boiler and Structural Company; Martin Petersen Sheet Metal Works; Thompson Concrete Block Company; Bouterse and Sons Excavating and Grading; Bill Brittle Well Drilling; Dominick Tirabassi; Rosko Sign Service; Kenosha Glass Company; Industrial Roofing Company; Motiograph Projection and Sound; Krump Construction Company, Milwaukee; White Way Electric Sign Company, Chicago; Cyclone Fence Company, Milwaukee; and Unit Structure, Incorporated.
When the COLONIAL’s Barton organ was removed and its pipes were being carried out, the police were summoned by a passerby who thought the pipes were some sort of missiles. I’m told this scenario has happened elsewhere.
The GENEVA Theatre was the effort of several prominent area industrialists including chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr., Nash Motors division superintendent Robert N. Lee of Kenosha, Nash Motors vice-president Walter Alford of Kenosha, cartoonist Sidney Smith of “Andy Gump” fame, brewer William Pabst, Jr. of Milwaukee, and several others. The first operating company was Community Theatres, of which Pabst was president.
The ANTIOCH Theatre was originally to be called the NEW MAJESTIC Theatre. It began as a co-partnership between Lyman B. Grice of Antioch and William C. Bryant of Bristol, Wisconsin (in neighboring Kenosha County). The theatre, with seats for 400 patrons, had a projected cost of $40,000.
Groundbreaking began on Wednesday, September 26, 1923. Soon after, Grice and Bryant sold a half-interest in the venture to James P. Johnson (a local proprietor of a resort hotel and the father of Oliver G. Johnson, who was managing the MAJESTIC Theatre in Antioch) and Albert L. Fell.
In January 1924, Oliver Johnson announced he was closing the MAJESTIC to move into the new ANTIOCH Theatre under construction and would be ending his lease with Barney Naber on Main Street, where the MAJESTIC had been since April 27, 1919, and that Naber would be leasing the former theatre to William Ross for a restaurant. Oliver G. Johnson brought in his brother Frank Johnson to co-manage the theatre.
The motto of the ANTIOCH Theatre was “The Public is Right.” The first feature presentation was Zane Grey’s “The Wanderer of the Wasteland.”
Fred B. Swanson, who began managing the ANTIOCH by December, 1925, was most associated with the success and improvements of the theatre, and remained as manager until May 21, 1941 when he purchased the building to become sole owner. He also owned other movie houses in the Midwest.
In October 1947, Swanson announced he had completed the remodeling of the ANTIOCH, which gave the theatre an additional 100 seats in the balcony.
On October 31, 1957, Swanson sold the ANTIOCH to William Goeway of Antioch, who took control on November 4. He also owned the nearby LAKES (nee CRYSTAL, now PM&L) Theatre. Goeway announced a new deluxe concession department and extensive remodeling of the theatre.
On May 31, 1962, Goeway sold the ANTIOCH to Henry C. Rhyan of the FAMILY Outdoor Theater in Grayslake and moved to Jacksonville, Florida where he intended to continue in the theatre business.
(Research: Al Westerman.)
The ORPHEUM’s owners since 2013 Gus and Mary Paras plan to do a $200,000 historic replication of its original six-story 63-foot 1926 vertical sign designed by Rapp and Rapp. The current steel face will be replaced with an aluminum replica using energy-efficient point lights in the original configuration. It’s still uncertain whether there will be chasers. In the 1930s the word “NEW” was removed from the top, and then it was “dumbed down” to what’s seen today.
The Paras family has already done restoration on the facade, marquee, ticket booth, roof, plaster, downstairs lavatories, dressing rooms, and HVAC. He said the community excitement was encouraging. Paras got a city facade restoration matching grant of up to $20,000 last year.
This vertical sign was kept lamped and fully operational until its removal in 1981.
Save `The Dupe' … … and save those memories of Main Street
(July 29, 2005, by John McCarron, who teaches, consults and writes on urban affairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remember?
Remember the scary sword fight between Sinbad the Sailor and the skeleton man? Or Sinbad’s face-off with the cyclops on the island of Colossa, where he had to go to break the spell cast over his beloved princess Parisa, who had been reduced to the size of a pocket knife by the evil sorcerer Sokurah?
I didn’t think so. Neither did I before I tweaked my memory on the Internet. What I do remember, like it was yesterday, is that sweet feeling of independence, walking down Main Street, Lombard, with my 12-year-old buddies, chores finished, fancy-free on a Saturday afternoon, off to see “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” at the DuPage Theatre.
As always, the 1959 action movie was only part of the show at “The Dupe.” Some of my older classmates had begun to hang out with (groan) girls, so first we’d cruise the balcony to see who was necking with whom. Next we’d go down to the long, glassy candy counter for an obligatory box of Milk Duds, maybe even a roll of caramel bull’s-eyes—if the lawn-mowing money held up. Then it was time to settle into the red velour seats, under a fake black sky with twinkling stars, and trip away with Sinbad, or Hercules or Jason and the Argonauts. Loved those sandal flicks.
Ah, The Dupe. Say it ain’t so. Say they’re not going to tear her down.
They can’t tear her down. Not after more than a decade of civic efforts to save her. Not after those efforts secured charitable contributions, plus federal and state pledges, worth $5.5 million. Not after one of the nation’s top restoration architects—Daniel P. Coffey, the guy who helped restore the Chicago and the Oriental and the Palace theaters in the North Loop—has drawn up a sensational plan, not just to save the old theater as a performing arts center, but to infuse Lombard’s anemic downtown with a $30 million wrap-around development of luxury condos and lively storefronts.
Most curious of all, how can they knock down The Dupe when powerful DuPage County politicians are pleading with the Lombard Village Board to give preservation one last chance? U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), state Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) and former Illinois Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale)—none previously known as gargoyle-hugging preservationists—are urging the Village Board to reconsider its June vote authorizing demolition.
In some ways you can’t blame the Village Board for losing patience with the project. Ten years ago the volunteer Friends of the DuPage Theatre said a developer was lined up to convert the building into offices and a studio for making educational videos. When that deal fell through the village took title to the 77-year-old theater and its attached offices and storefronts. In 2001 the board appointed a blue-ribbon committee to come up with a plan, but it was slow going.
Seems the “new urbanism” that has inspired towns like Elmhurst, Downers Grove and Arlington Heights to rejuvenate downtowns around restored train stations and theaters has been, well, slow to catch on in the lilac village. It’s still tough to compete there with the big-box discounters on Roosevelt Road and the 18-screen cinema at the Yorktown mall. And public-private partnerships of the kind needed to save The Dupe remain a tough sell politically. It’s still a tax-a-phobic town, even if the John Birch Society long ago closed its anti-communist “library” off St. Charles Road.
Still, there was excitement earlier this year with the unveiling of Coffey’s plan for preservation and redevelopment. His client, developer Richard Curto of RSC & Associates, would restore the theater’s “Spanish courtyard” interior a la the 1928 design by Rapp & Rapp, including those twinkling stars of my youth. In the parking lot south of the theater would rise a five-story condo-over-stores structure of compatible design (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). Behind the stores, out of sight under the condos, would be two levels of parking for 237 cars, including spaces set aside on weekdays for commuters using the Metra station across the street.
In short, the project would catapult Lombard into the forefront of new urbanism and transit-oriented design. Who knows, the town might even snag a Starbucks. Best of all, contends Coffey, the property and sales taxes from the development, plus the state and federal grants already pledged, would cover the $8.5 million cost of restoring the theater.
But it may not happen. There is bad blood between preservationists and certain members of the Village Board. Deadlines have been missed. Harsh words have been exchanged in public. Other condo developers likely are standing by to pay Lombard serious money for the site—so long as they don’t have to save the theater. Why take a chance on preservation?
“It seems to have come down to plain old personality problems,” said Coffey.
That may be. But for this son of Lombard, this long-ago marcher in the Lilac Parade, it’s also about memories. And the faint hope that some Saturday afternoon in the not too distant future, a 12-year-old and his buddies will be able to walk, not ride, down Main Street, buy some Milk Duds and slip into another world—to the island of Colossa, perhaps—under the stars at the good old Dupe.
ANTIOCH Theatre; April, 2015.
WINDOM, MINN. – For eight months, it sat empty. No blockbusters, no popcorn, no Saturday matinees. In the movie industry’s massive switch from film to digital, it looked like the little State Theater was yet another casualty. But then residents came to its rescue. This month, its classic, red marquee will rise again. People in small cities across Minnesota are rallying around their Main Street movie theaters, helping them pay for the pricey new digital projectors needed as 35-millimeter film is phased out. Sick of seeing businesses shutter their downtown storefronts, they’re writing checks, throwing fundraising galas and convincing city councils to chip in.
The State Theater, now a nonprofit, switched out its whirring projector for a digital behemoth in May. The Historic Comet Theater in Cook, Minn., raised $81,000 for new gear via the Kickstarter fundraising website. This weekend in Luverne, Minn., volunteers hosted a speakeasy-style party, with classic cars and live music, to help pay for the Palace Theatre’s upgrade.
“If people are going to want to move back to small-town, rural Minnesota, there’s gotta be a reason to come back,” said Dianne Ossenfort, president of the Palace’s board. “And a downtown theater is one of the reasons.”
As film gets more difficult to find, movie lovers have worried most about small-town theaters. The expense of buying a new digital projector — plus upping ventilation and retrofitting a booth — often exceeds $60,000. That’s a big figure for a single-screen theater, some of which are open only on weekends. A year ago, industry groups predicted that thousands of theaters would close rather than convert. Some have. But many little theaters are provoking passion. Across the country, residents are helping pay for the digital equipment, via county grants and online fundraising.
“In a lot of cases, it’s the only entertainment for miles around,” said Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theatre Owners.
The movie industry’s conversion has no hard deadline, but film versions of the latest flicks will be tough to procure by the end of the year. So far, about 75 percent of theaters nationwide have made the switch, Corcoran said. Drive-ins are lagging — about half have yet to switch. Many might be waiting until this season’s end, he said.
“It’s an enormous changeover of the industry in a very short period of time,” Corcoran said.
The State Theater’s marquee sits in 19 pieces, dusty and dented, on the floor of a construction shop in Windom. But volunteers hope it will be welded, painted and mounted by late September — just in time for an anniversary party. A year ago, residents in this southwestern city of 4,600 formed a nonprofit, raised $13,000 and bought the State through a contract-for-deed. Then they cleaned. Friends brought brooms, buckets and bleach.
“We scraped up gum that had two coats of paint on it,” said Buckwheat Johnson, president of Windom Theater Inc. “Two different colors!”
Their little theater up and running, the volunteers then began raising money again — this time for a digital projector. Thanks to a couple of big checks, one from a woman who grew up going to the theater, they brought in $20,000. The county contributed a low-interest loan. Then a guy called: He had a used digital projector, much cheaper than new.
“Our theater is looking good and running good,” Jean Fast, secretary of the nonprofit, said with pride.
The movies themselves look better — sharp and clear, showing after showing. They sound better, too, thanks to new so-called surround sound. Plus, now the film doesn’t start on fire, as “Kung Fu Panda” once did. Johnson used to get those calls.
The Civic Theatre in Pretty Prairie closed because of a storm that swept through the community in 2013, but plans are to reopen the theatre soon by cooperating with the school district and allowing local high school students a chance to learn entrepreneurial and business skills, said Darrell Albright, the theater director. He and his wife, Joyce, both in their 70s, will serve as advisers. The Civic Theatre needs a new roof and work done to stabilize the west wall.
The Civic originally opened in June 1936 but was closed by 1955. In 1981, the Albrights reopened the Civic with its original wood-backed seats and showed classic films such as Gary Cooper in “High Noon.”
Albright grew up in a home that didn’t allow dancing, playing cards or going to the movies. Running the Civic “answered a lifelong rebellion,” he said. He’s hopeful about passing his affection for the town’s movie theater on to the next generation. “You never know what you will awaken in a kid as far as an interest in life,” Albright said.
Darrell Albright stands of the stage of the Civic Theatre in Pretty Prairie. The theatre opened in 1936 and had closed by the 1970s. Albright moved there in 1982 and reopened the theater with his wife, Joyce. They showed old movies and had play productions in the building until the summer of 2013 when a storm ripped through Pretty Prairie and high winds tore the roof off the building. The theater hasn’t reopened since the storm, but there is a plan in the works to have the high school students take it on as an entrepreneurial project. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle)
No Wal-Mart at Keno site; Plan Commission denies request to change land plan (Kenosha News, April 14, 2015)
PLEASANT PRAIRIE — The village’s Plan Commission on Monday night voted unanimously to deny alternatives to amend its comprehensive plan, including one that involved a proposal for a “big box” retailer at the site of the Keno Drive-In by property owner Steve Mills of Bear Development to change the comprehensive plan to allow for a 150,000-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter. T The hearing was preceded by an informal two-hour “open village forum” which drew as many as 100 people, many supporters of keeping the drive-in open. Mills said that while his family enjoyed the drive-in, he acquired the property so it could be developed and said making the drive-in viability would require upgrades that would be “prohibitive financially.” Mills said people who want to support it should put together a non-profit organization, hold fundraisers to prove to donors that it can be viable. “But it’s not the responsibility of me or my family to provide that,” he said. Mills said he would be willing to support the community’s efforts if there was interest.
Eli Shai Riley, who attends LakeView Technology Academy, said he and a group of students have a proposal that would include the Keno Drive-In and want to work with Mills. Riley, Austin Skundberg and Nathan Davis described a plan to have a slightly downsized Keno Drive-In bolstered by restaurants. “We hope to work with Bear Realty to develop the best plan for everyone,” he said.
Joe Mangi, former Kenosha Unified School District superintendent, lauded the village for keeping the community family-oriented, though he said he did not want to see the village without the Keno.
“Why would we give up a 70-year-old jewel … for a big-box store?” he said. “It’s Pleasant Prairie. It isn’t Everywhere USA. Wal-Mart creates blight wherever they go. They’ll knock out the Piggly Wiggly. … They are like an amoeba. We have eight big-box stores in our community already,” he said. “We’ve got only one Keno Drive-In, and that is part of our history.”
(1933) B. and K. Engineers Oust the “Dead Spot”
Balaban & Katz engineers have accomplished an innovation in sound improvements for the Pantages Theater, it is reported, creating, through acoustic achievements, an advance step in talking picture reproduction. Certain “dead” spots in the Pantages proved a difficult handicap in the proper presentation of sound pictures. But after four weeks of extensive acoustical work the engineers have achieved perfect sound, it is said.
Three people were killed at the Proctor’s and twelve others injured on February 23, 1934 in a basement explosion blamed on accumulated gases. The dead included Patrolman Patrick Whalen, Carl Gruber, an electrical engineer, and James Frazier, 31. The blast ripped out the Proctor’s lobby and wrecked a car outside.
(DAILY HERALD, Thursday, May 25, 1950) The new Towne theatre on Grand Ave. in Fox Lake will be opened Saturday evening, May 27, marking a big step forward in the growth of the community.
The theatre, operated by the Robert Helson Corporation, will offer as its first attraction “The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady” which opened in the Oriental Theatre in Chicago only two weeks ago. The doors will open at 6:30 p. m. and the first performance starts at 7:00 p. m.
The Towne will be under the management of Jonas Fugett, long time employee of the Helson firm, headed by Robert T. Held of Chicago and Robert C. Nelson, well-known Lake County attorney and school board attorney for the Fox Lake Grade school.
The new theatre is of the most modern design with every facility for patrons' comfort as well as entertainment. More than 600 Kroehler Pushback seats have been installed. This new type of seat makes it unnecessary to stand when someone desires to pass to and from other seats in the aisle. Those who desire hard-of-hearing aids may ask the head usher and they will be provided without charge.
The screen is a Starke custom built Cycloramic screen which is the newest type of screen and the first type of screen with any major improvement for vision from the sides of the theatre made in the past 20 years. The projection and sound equipment is high intensity Motiograph 35 carbon-arc, the best available equipment on the market. The draperies are beautiful sateen finish fireproof material. The carpeting is extra thick and is in a beautiful design of four shades of gray.
One large wall surface of the lobby is adorned with a “black-light” mural of the Lake Region painted by Hans Teichert, the best theatre decorator in the United States.
The refreshment accommodations are complete, popcorn, cakes, candy bars, etc. The building, which is one of the very few completely fireproof theatres in Lake or McHenry counties, is finished in Indiana limestone with three all-glass entrance doors.
Ample free parking facilities have been provided for patrons of the theatre, and the operators have promised that every effort will be made to obtain the latest and best film fare.
The address was 66 Grand Avenue.
This evening’s “Better Call Saul” episode with the twin (prop) pay telephones was set along the outer wall of the El Ray Theatre.
Sunday, February 25, 1934: Chicago Herald and Examiner
The North Adams Transcript, 20 Sep 1951, Thu, Page 22