Plaza Theatre
3343 W. Devon Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60659
3343 W. Devon Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60659
1 person
favorited this theater
Located in a strip mall and first operated by Essaness, later by Cineplex-Odeon, and lastly by Plitt. This HAD to be one of the most generic/non-descript theatres ever in the Chicagoland area. Located right across the street from the Lincoln Village Theatre, it seemed to be operated as an adjunct to that theatre.
The Plaza was housed in a former discount store (I believe it was called Community). To be more precise, it occupied the north end of the building. Having seen “Superman II” and “The Lost Boys” there, I know that it operated between 1981 and 1987. The Plaza probably closed when Cineplex-Odeon built the new section of the Lincoln Village Theatre, right across McCormick Boulevard.
Although the address listed was on Devon, the theatre did front McCormick Boulevard. Later, a K-Mart opened in the space formerly occupied by Community(?) and also took over the space occupied by the theatre. I haven’t been up that way lately, so I don’t know if the K-Mart is still in business. Any further information on the location and the dates that the Plaza Theatre was in business would be appreciated.
Contributed by
Paul Fortini
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Recent comments (view all 23 comments)
Has this theatre actually been demolished to build Home Depot? If so, then this place should be listed as “Closed/Demolished.”
I think that me and my brother went here a couple of times when we were much younger. I do recall it being opposite where the present Lincoln Village Cinema went in. I vaguely recall it being small and non-descript, but not much else.
Counting the number of theatres that were in the immediate area (Plaza, LV 1-6, LV 7-9)circa 1997, the Devon-Lincoln-McCormick “triangle” will have gone from 12 screens to soon zero!
Paul: Every time I went to the Plaza it was totally non-descript. No Cineplex zig-zag remodeling to be found. I think the last time I was there wasn’t too many years before it closed. So it seems unlikely that any investment took place.
Not to beat the Zayre thing to death, but didn’t Zayre start out as a store called Venture? They had several Chicago locations, but two were North and close to each other.
The one mentioned above and one on Peterson Ave. East of Western, where the Target is now.
I saw the first run of “Robocop” at the Plaza. Thanks BWChicago for steering me towards the Plaza’s name.
David Z
Zayre and Venture were two different stores. I don’t believe they were ever related. Venture lasted until the late 1990s, I believe. Most Zayres were purchased by Ames in the mid- to late-1980s, however I believe this Zayre lasted a little longer. If you’d like more information, try this website www.deadmalls.com or this site www.labelscar.com
This theatre should be updated. Originally it did open as an Essaness (one of the last), then passed to Cineplex-Odeon. It was briefly known as a Plitt.
The Plaza 1,2,3 opened December 12th, 1980. First films to play here were “Stir Crazy” on two screens. “Any Which Way You Can” took over one of those screens on 12/17, and the the third opened on Christmas Day. Roy Leonard of WGN attended the grand opening ceremony.
Actually, the sequence would briely be Essaness, Plitt (briefly),
then C-O. Not positive whether or not it made it into Loews.
Oh, and C-O opened the newer section of Lincoln Village around 1988. The Plaza lasted until late 1998, so they did operate concurrently.
Paul is correct with regard to Zayre and Venture.
I remember when all three sites around this intersection were operating. It seemed like they valued this market and were trying to create a “megaplex” by combining them. Judging by the large crowds I remember at the original Lincoln Village in the 80’s it was probably a good judgment call at the time.
I don’t know why I just remembered this. But I think when we saw “Robocop” here, they ran trailers for “Alien Nation” with James Cann.
And one of the scenes showed a mall parking lot that looked almost like the one we’d just come in from.
I think it was a scene with ET’s Leeza Gibbons as a newscaster, saying something about President Reagan to establish a time reference.
Just for the record, the purple brick building opened as Shoppers World on August 15, 1962. The chain was sold in late 1967 and all stores became Community Discount World on February 29, 1968. Later Zayre/Ames/Kmart, etc.