Holiday Star Theater
340 Main Street,
Park Forest,
IL
60466
340 Main Street,
Park Forest,
IL
60466
5 people
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Showing 1 - 25 of 29 comments found
I enjoyed many of the treasures of my youth in this theater back in the 1980’s.
Renovations described in this 1963 trade article: Boxoffice
Described in this 1951 trade article: boxoffice
The Holiday Star is now owned and operated by Matanky Realty Group. The Matanky’s are now booking one art or foreign film, when they can. They have done innovative programming, including having a display and appearances by Tuskegee Airman during showings of “Red Tails”. When you come to the theater, be sure to pass by the windows on the shopping center side to see the murals from “Let’s Go Out to the Lobby.” They are showing current releases, often within a week or so of general release. If you live close enough, definitely come out and support this theater.
The web site of the Holiday Star Theater has been moved to this URL.
History of the Holiday Theater, Part Two, June 26, 2011
Park Forest Historical Society Program
On June 26, 2011 at 2:30 p.m. in the Holiday Theater, 340 Main Street, Park Forest, the Park Forest Historical Society will present The History of the Holiday Theater Part Two. Willis and Shirley Johnson operated the theater from 1981-1986, and 1990 into 2002 with a name change to Classic Cinema’s Park Forest Theatre. Under their ownership, many improvements were made to the infrastructure, the marquee was added on the parking lot side, division of the main theater into three took place, and the fifth screen was built and transformed into an “art house” theater. Willis Johnson will be telling us about his ownership and developments under his management. Someone from the current management and Robert Matanky, one of the current owners, will speak on the progress they are making in reviving and updating the theater.
The Holiday Theater opened in the Park Forest Shopping Center on October 28, 1950. It was one of the first movie theaters in the country to be in a shopping center. It was possibly the largest theater built in the Chicago metro area since the Depression, having over 1,000 seats and a soundproof “cry room” for parents with children.
Memories of the theater, which was a social hub in the early days of the village, are vivid for the early residents. The auditorium was used by several churches for Sunday morning services, while churches waited to build sanctuaries. The Holiday also had a conversation room where artists displayed and where refreshments were served.
The Holiday was originally operated by the Harry and Elmer Balaban corporation which also owned the Surf and Esquire theaters in Chicago. In early 1952, the building, by architects, Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett, won the “Oscar” of theater design, awarded by Exhibitor and Theatre Catalog Magazines. A bronze plaque cited the Holiday for “international recognition as one of the most modern and well appointed of all current theaters.” The merit award was considered the highest honor offered for theater design by the motion picture industry.
The theater is documented on the website, Cinema Treasures, at http://cinematreasures.org. One of the creators of the site, Ross Melnick, says it is featured in the companion book, Cinema Treasures. A model of the Holiday Theater is on display at the Theater Historical Society of America in Elmhurst, Illinois.
Part One of the History of the Holiday Theater was held September 26, 2010, with a presentation by Jack and Becky Mallers Black, members of the Mallers family, projectionists and ushers who had worked at the theater over the years.
A display on the history of the theater will be in the lobby. The public is welcome to attend this free program.
See the society website at www.parkforesthistory.org.
(Continued) Here’s an in-depth Cincinnati Enquirer article on Arron’s lengthy history of high-stakes scams. The article is from 2004! View link
One victim is quoted as follows: “If he used half his energy doing something legal, he could be on top of the world.”
Though Arron would seem to be a textbook case of “flight risk,” he was released on a $20,000 bail after his Holiday Star-related arrest.
Just visited Holiday Star for the first time today, though I’ve lived in the region for 50 years. (I recently found out some interesing things about Park Forest history, and wanted to see a piece of it up close, for myself.) Pretty nice theater, really nice people.
Sorry to learn when I got home and went online that a con artist, one Kenneth Arron, recently put his fingers on the place. Happily, the law caught up with him within a year. Sounds like he was so reckless that it was always just a matter of time before his house of cards fell.
I wonder who, exactly, is in charge of Holiday Star now that Arron is behind bars?
“Theater Operator Facing Multiple Charges Following Arrest"
(September 16, 2010) View link
“Suburb stunned that theater’s rescuer was a career criminal: Man who helped breathe life into Park Forest relic is revealed to have long record of convictions"
(September 19, 2010) View link
(Note that Arron was arrested the day after the post before mine appeared. Also see CWalczak’s links, above, for further irony.)
Note, the program for the grand opening of this theater says it opened on October 28, 1950, not in November.
Park Forest Historical Society Program on History of the Holiday Theater
The History of the Holiday Theater will be the program at the Park Forest Historical Society annual meeting on Sunday September 26, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in Park Forest Village Hall Board Meeting Room, 350 Victory Drive.
Jack and Becky Mallers Black will lead a panel discussion on the history of the Holiday Theater. Mrs. Black’s father, Bill Mallers, owned the theater from 1953 to 1978-9. Mr. and Mrs. Black also worked at the theater. Also participating in the program will be Ann, Phillip and Chuck Mallers, Jim Kaufman—a former projectionist, and Jeff Lindstrom, who was an usher. Other former employees of any period of the theater are encouraged to attend.
The Holiday Theater opened in the Park Forest Shopping Center on October 28, 1950. It was one of the first movie theaters in the country to be in a shopping center. It was possibly the largest theater built in the Chicago metro area since the Depression, having over 1,000 seats and a soundproof “cry room” for parents with children.
Memories of the theater, which was a social hub in the early days of the village, are vivid for the early residents. The auditorium was used by several churches for Sunday morning services, while churches waited to build sanctuaries. The Holiday also had a conversation room where artists displayed and where refreshments were served.
The Holiday was originally operated by the Harry and Elmer Balaban corporation which also owned the Surf and Esquire theaters in Chicago. In early 1952, the building, by architects, Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett, won the “Oscar” of theater design, awarded by Exhibitor and Theatre Catalog Magazines. A bronze plaque cited the Holiday for “international recognition as one of the most modern and well appointed of all current theaters.” The merit award was considered the highest honor offered for theater design by the motion picture industry.
The Facebook group, “Grew up in Park Forest,” has a discussion topic, “Holiday Theater—Did you work there?”
-more-
The theater is documented on the website, Cinema Treasures, at http://cinematreasures.org One of the creators of the site, Ross Melnick, says it is featured in the companion book, Cinema Treasures. A model of the Holiday Theater is on display at the Theater Historical Society of America in Elmhurst, Illinois.
Information is with Jerry Shnay at 708-747-3571, or with Jane Nicoll at parkforesthistory1 @ yahoo.com.
Sorry about all those typos. The 2 main auditoriums are still nice and big & I think one may still have a “cry room” which is sooo nice for parents w/ babies who want to see films without interupting the other viewers. Upstairs are two very nice screens that feel cozy-not cramped or poorly constructed. The 5th screen is perfect for special events and art films.
The tall grass film series used to show here and I hope that continues.
This theater was really great as a 1 screen. I remmebr the ushers lined up allong the back where they could see everything going on. I believe the last movie I saw on the single was The Great Outdoors.
After high school I worked there from 1992-1996 maybe. I need to find some photos. I think I was hired by Nan? and Scott. the mall was on the decline but what a crazy great place to work. The lobby had those giant 4'x4' portraits of cinema legends.
Classic Cinemas really really tried with this location. I think for them ge it was hard to mannage because we were so far southeast of most of their other locations.
This theater should now be listed as the Holiday Star Theater; here’s an article about the new owner’s plans for the theater: View link
According to this article, this theater is under new management and will now be known as the Holiday Star Theater:
View link
Hanns R. Teichert, whose firm decorated the Holiday Theatre, penned an article about the house for the April 7, 1951, issue of Boxoffice. Among the features of the Holiday were a fireplace in the lobby, a spacious lounge and coffee room available for private parties and club meetings during non-show hours, and a ground-floor cry room.
The Holiday had 1,050 Kroehler Push-Back seats upholstered in red mohair, and the stage curtain was hand-painted in gray, white, and black to suggest a forest scene. Carpeting was a tweed in tones of blue, red, black, and yellow. Teichert referred to the overall theme of the design “resort decor” which was intended to evoke the atmosphere of a lodge.
This theatre is no longer under Eagle Theatre’s management. Their website says so. It is now simply called The Eagle Theatre and the website is View link
The Holiday originally opened for the H&E Balaban chain. The balcony was called the Terrace and had reserved seating for some reason.
Finding this web site last evening truly came as a surprise when I did a google search last night in response to a question that my childhood friend, Lauri Young, posed to me regarding the Park Forest Holiday Theater. My dad, Robert ‘Bob’ Parker had co-managed the Holiday Theater for a number of years when we were children and Lauri and I have so many memories of that movie theater, where we spent so many Saturday afternoons at the matinees. Do you all remember the magicians who would perform on the stage in front of the curtain before the start of the weekend matinees, or the man who would thrill us with his outstanding performances with his Yo-Yo, doing tricks which we could never replicate?
My father at the age of 83, though his health has been failing him this past year, continues to hold dear to his heart the town where he and my mum, prior to her death in 1996, made their home for 50 years.
Catherine Gentz
Cathy Parker
But for how long though? Look at how many companies have tried to operate this place over the past few years.
Good news: the Park Forest Theater has now reopened for business. Hurray! It is now the “Eagle Park Forest Theater.” The web site is: http://www.eagletheater.net
What great memories I had as a kid seeing movies at the Holiday Theater. If I recall correctly, the children’s matinee price was 75 cents. (This was the late 60’s, early 70’s. My parents would drop my sister and I off and we’d usually head for the balcony and eat candy and watch a good Disney movie. I would sometimes go down and hang out in the glassed-in “Crying Room” since there was rarely anybody in there. It was like your own private screening booth.
I hadn’t been back to Park Forest since the early 80’s. Went back in Mar. 2005 and wow, lots of changes. The Plaza isn’t what it used to be, and the Holiday Theater (now Park Forest Cinema I guess) seemed closed and uncertain. I’m going to drop back by when I’m up in Chicago around Mar 2006—hope they have it back open again by then. I’d love to see the place again—although without the balcony, and having subdivided the auditorium, it might be a bit sad. Still, I hope I’ll be able to catch a movie there then.
Regardless, hope they can keep that place alive. Lots of history there, and great memories for thousands of people.
I also was an usher, from 1971 – 1973(!) when it was the Holiday Theater. What a great first job, except for the pay ($1.00 an hour). The owner’s name was Mahler when I was there, I think. Ralph Wick(sp?) was the manager at the time (he still lives nearby too). Capacity was indeed 1200. I remember the lines out to the Clock Tower (gone now) for the first run shows and Saturday matinee’s (managing rowdy kids was always a challenge ‘eh?). The balcony was for “adults only”. The building was built around 1955 and was also used as a church on Sunday mornings, with an organ and everything (my brother was baptized there) until their building was done.
Gary Strom
I woke up this morning after having dreamt about the Holiday Theatre. I lived in Park Forest from 1954 to 1967. In 1966 and 1967 I worked as an usher at the Holiday Theatre in Park Forest. This was before the era of multiple screen theatres. I have to be honest I miss those theatres. I know they can not be profitable in today’s market, but all the same there was something majestic about those theatres, even the ones that were not opulent. We could seat somewhere are 1000 to 1200 people, I believe. And we did have sell out nights. Lots of them. Friday and Saturday nights usually were full for the first two shows. The theatre opened at 5:30 during the week and Saturday had a matinee movie for the kids then opened for the regular show again at 5:30 or 6:00. Sundays we opened around 12:30 or 1:00 PM. Big difference than today’s movie business.
When I first started the ushers, all males at that time, wore a uniform consisting of a red coat, dark blue pants with a stripe down the outside seam, white shirt and a dark blue bow tie. In 1967 we went to a green paisley jacket, black slacks, white shirt and, I believe, a paisley matching bow tie. This was the time of old style service and we seated people. We stood at the back of the auditorium at the head of the aisles to assist people. I saw Battle of the Bulge 32 times this way. I still remember many of the lines from the scenes to this day. I saw Mary Poppins 25 times.
The owner I believe was a Mr. Williams. He also owned a theatre in Fort Wayne Indiana. The Assistant Manager at the time was a Mr. Parker, who later became manager of the Lans theatre in Lansing, Illinois.
I feel like the theatre has a flavor all it’s own. All it needs is a little TLC and perhaps a theme of some kind. Maybe the 80s’s.
When and if it does open, I hope you will keep that popcorn machine. That’s your trademark, fresh popcorn no longer exist in many movie houses. As long as the washrooms are kept spotless, the personnel friendly and the prices low, your in business. Speaking of business, for some reason the owners stopped advertising in the local The Star newspapers and the majors ones too. Also, you could benefit by having an articulate person advertise the dates,time etc. Well, I’ll be looking forward to your grand reopening soon. Thanks, CJ
Park Forest Theatres will reopen in late June/early July under new ownership. We look forward to serving the community.
Eric Gubelman
Park Forest Cinemas, Inc.