Golf Mill Theatres 1-2-3

9210 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Niles, IL 60714

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Showing 51 - 75 of 99 comments

CinemarkFan
CinemarkFan on November 17, 2006 at 4:47 pm

I got back from seeing “Casino Royale” at the new Showplace 12 a while ago. I found the theatre to be really great for a megaplex. The design is a departure from Kerasotes older designs, which is a good thing if you ask me. The box office and entrance is around the back of the mall. The entrance and ticket booth is very identical to River East, the lobby is very spacious and has a lot of cream color and a bit of brown in there(from what I can remember right now). The bathroom’s got a lot of toilets and stalls to make sure nobody has to wait. And now for the auditoriums: I was in theatre 1, one of the “big units”. The screen could’ve been a lot larger, but that could’ve cut into the parking spaces. The seats are indentical to River East(red cushion, black backs), except Showplace 12’s are a bit wider and longer. The walls have red and black drapes/padding with lights on them. The sound was perfect, just what I hoped for. “Happy Feet” was in theatre 2, the second “big unit”. Before we left, I snuck into #3, which was playing “let’s go to Prison”. That room is almost like a medium screen at Randhurst or River East. I’ll post more in a few.

dakotaben
dakotaben on November 16, 2006 at 9:02 pm

So you guys like the theatre?!?

Broan
Broan on November 16, 2006 at 3:13 pm

Guess it’s time for someone to submit a new entry

jimpiscitelli
jimpiscitelli on November 16, 2006 at 2:51 pm

Went to the preview day saw “The DaVinci Code”. The theater does remind me of Cinemark Melrose Park but the seats are wider and also has adjustable armrests. I highly recommend the Showplace 12. The “Big Units” remind me of Cinemark Melrose Park’s screens 5 and 6.

Broan
Broan on November 16, 2006 at 9:11 am

Good point. But Friday’s showtimes even look like 10 or 11 screens.

CinemarkFan
CinemarkFan on November 16, 2006 at 8:23 am

I think they’re waitng to put Casino Royale and Happy Feet on each of the “Big Units”.

Broan
Broan on November 16, 2006 at 7:26 am

Notice this is only 10 screens, so 2 must not be finished. I’m guessing it’s the two 500-seat “Big Units”

Broan
Broan on November 16, 2006 at 7:22 am

Today’s first shows are DaVinci Code at 4, Superman Returns at 4:10, Monster House at 4:15, Lady In The Water at 4:20, Lake House at 4:30, Devil Wears Prada at 4:40, X-Men at 4:45, Click at 4:50, Ant Bully at 5:00, and Talladega Nights at 5:10.

Broan
Broan on November 16, 2006 at 7:17 am

Actually, CinemarkFan, there’s a preview day today with 1 dollar seats all day. Charity for Big Brothers-Big Sisters. Not new releases, though.

CinemarkFan
CinemarkFan on November 14, 2006 at 7:34 am

Three days from now. I wonder how people will compare this to the original Golf Mill theaters?

billymac72
billymac72 on November 14, 2006 at 3:25 am

Thanks again for the great details, Mr. Jensen. I was under the presumption that the new Glen theater had incorporated some of the old Naval structure. You would certainly know better than me. It is, however, right next to the Hangar One area.

I grew up in the area from the early 70s on, so that was a little before my time. I’m sure much of it was still the same in the 70s. I grew up with a hundred acres of cornfield in my backyard and beyond that was the base runways. The thing I miss most are the summer air shows. I’d park up with friends along Euclid Ave to watch them every year, including the last one in ‘94.

Glenview/Northbrook is certainly not a bad place to live today by any means. But I have come to the realization that it little resembles the community I knew growing up (this is the same phenomena that happened with my dad and Oak Park). As far as Golf Mill and Niles goes…Yikes! I think there’s no question that it was a nicer place then. It did, however, begin getting a somewhat seedy reputation by the late 70s, at least in comparison to Glenview.

Listen, I tracked down an old Chicago Tribune scan for that fire. It was on happened on the morning of May 13, 1967, so your memory serves you well! Apparently, it took out the entire recreation facility (bowling alley, et. al.) If you’d like me to email it to you, just let me know:

Broan
Broan on November 13, 2006 at 3:34 pm

Personally, I’ve always been of the opinion “The More The Merrier”. And they’re certainly architecturally related. Now that I look a little more, it looks like there are in fact a few on here. So maybe they did take that poll to heart. That’s what I was thinking of when I said that. I stand corrected.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on November 13, 2006 at 3:18 pm

I don’t see why base theatres are not counted. Mason Rapp did work in creating an auditorium at Great Lakes where they still show movies (or at least did the last time I saw it ten years ago).

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois
Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on November 13, 2006 at 2:31 pm

Brian Wolf, I wasn’t aware of that, to me a movie theatre is a movie theatre. Please go back to polls, see results, show all, older and go back 2 “pages” and August 8 05, “The Cinema Treasures website needs more information on..” Please read the coments of Ken Layton, Lost Memory, Ron Newman, Gerald A. DeLuca and William. Any thoughts on these comments?

Broan
Broan on November 13, 2006 at 1:48 pm

As a general rule base theaters aren’t counted here, along with civic auditoria, always-legitimate theaters, etc.

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois
Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on November 13, 2006 at 1:43 pm

billymac, I think the U.S. Naval Air Station Theatre burned down in 1967, I know it was the night before a Mothers Day. When I find the paper I have with the exact date of the fire I will add the base theatre to Cinema Treasures. Yes it was strange to all the civilians all around the base to not be able to go on the base and therefore have no idea what was on the base. I didn’t mention in my yesterdays post that the base was closed in 1994, which broke my heart. So now anyone can go on the base, but really nothing of the base is left except the front of Hanger One with the Control Tower with stores in it, the Chapel that I got married in and the married Naval housing which is used by sailors stationed up at the U.S. Naval Station, Great Lakes, up near Waukegan. The rest of the old base is homes, stores, golf courses and parks. Just think what it cost to tear out the runways and tear down all those hangers! The “great movie theatre” is an all new building , built since the Navy left. The control Tower is the next building to the north.
And the Golf Mill, that breaks my heart too!

billymac72
billymac72 on November 13, 2006 at 4:09 am

Those are some great recollections, Mr. Jensen. Thanks for sharing that. You must’ve been stationed there in the 1960s? That may have been a little before my time. I never knew the Naval base had a movie theater. It’s funny, because in many ways the contents of the base seemed so mysterious to many of us. It’s also strange how things come back around again; the Glen development that took over the base has a great movie theater. It is housed, incidentally, in one of the base’s older remaining stuctures (I think where the control tower was).

In a way, I feel a little bit sad reading about how Golf Mill once was, and upset about how it’s changed. I guess if there’s one certainty in life, it’s that nothing stays the same. Oh well. One can’t dwell in the past.

billymac72
billymac72 on November 13, 2006 at 4:09 am

Those are some great recollections, Mr. Jensen. Thanks for sharing that. You must’ve been stationed there in the 1960s? That may have been a little before my time. I never knew the Naval base had a movie theater. It’s funny, because in many ways the contents of the base seemed so mysterious to many of us. It’s also strange how things come back around again; the Glen development that took over the base has a great movie theater. It is housed, incidentally, in one of the base’s older remaining stuctures (I think where the control tower was).

In a way, I feel a little bit sad reading about how Golf Mill once was, and upset about how it’s changed. I guess if there’s one certainty in life, it’s that nothing stays the same. Oh well. One can’t dwell in the past.

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois
Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on November 12, 2006 at 3:11 am

I was stationed at the nearby U.S. Naval Air Station At Glenview, which had a movie theatre, till it burned down, so I went to the Golf Mill Theatres (about 3 miles away) often. The name comes from the name of the two main roads that go by the shopping center, Golf Road and Milwaukee Avenue. I saw Kate Smith at the Mill Run Theatre (as mentioned above, a theatre in the round).
The Golf Mill was a really nice theatre and a first class act back in those days. I don’t think any of the theatres ever got split, they just built new theatres attached to the existing building. I remember seeing part of The Sound of Music in one of it’s reruns. We had a big storm and the power went out, they had no choice, but to cancel the movie.
Who was the fella from the theatre who Wally Phillips of WGN Radio used to always talk to (I think about new movies that would be opening?). He had someting to do with the Chicago Variety Club? What was his name?

CinemarkFan
CinemarkFan on November 10, 2006 at 6:30 pm

Oh, I forgot, one week from today. I’ll be there. At least I’ll try. If not that friday then it’ll be saturday. Who else is coming?

billymac72
billymac72 on November 6, 2006 at 5:03 am

The enclosure of Golf Mill in the 1980s ruined a lot of it’s old aesthetic. I hated it at the time even. The mill pond was removed then. Most of the “improvements” done at the mall over the past 20 years have been extrordinarily tacky. The Mill Run Theater was roughly where Kohl’s stands now.

The area has changed a lot since those glory days in the 60s & 70s. First of all, the demographic has gotten heavily immigrant (mainly Latino & Korean). Other factors have hurt Golf Mill over the years, amongst them, the decline of Sears. The exterior of this still-operating store once reflected classic late 1950s/early 1960s decor. The front doors were in the center (they were moved to the sides for some reason later on). The canopy over the door had a series of small flag poles along its top edge. The Sears logo was in black script. It was a very nice store with a toy section I loved as a kid. Another factor is a declining public interest in enclosed malls. If the theater helps business, they really should consider restoring this to an outdoor mall, a la Old Orchard, with modern ammenities. Lastly, competition has grown fierce, even within the area of Golf Mill itself, which once had open areas across Milwaukee Ave.

On the other hand, the new Wal Mart (former site of Venture, then KMart) on Golf Road seems to be doing booming business, which may actually help the other competing business around it by virtue of bringing more people to the area. The controversial off-track betting club opened in the former site of Circuit City seems to be doing quite well. Hopefully, this new theater will only add to the improvements.

dakotaben
dakotaben on November 5, 2006 at 4:31 pm

The mall owners General Growth Properties (GGP) are slated to put $6 million into the theatre to renovate the decor, and I assume make it accessable for theatre patrons to access the central corridor to exit the theatre at night. We will see how nice they make it. I am pretty confident though that the theatre will bring some life back to a dying mall. It is a shame what has happened there. I have gone to that mall since before I can remember, and I always liked it.

dakotaben
dakotaben on November 5, 2006 at 9:37 am

I have not been inside the theatre personally, only a few theatre people have. They are still working on the punch list as we speak. I was supposed to be in on Tue, but it now looks like Friday. I will see what I can do about posting sizes once I get a feel for the place. From what I have seen though from the open doors, it looks great though.