Varsity Theatre
1216 W. Main Street,
Peoria,
IL
61606
1216 W. Main Street,
Peoria,
IL
61606
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The Varsity Theatre opened in 1939, a conversion of a former garage. It was located on Main Street near Underhill Street. From the time it opened until it closed in the late-1980’s, the Varsity Theatre was operated by Kerasotes Theatres. Not long after closing, the Varsity Theatre was razed.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
All the parade photos were in Chicago, according to the caption. Perhaps an AKA for a Chicago theater that’s already been listed.
Couldn’t say where that was, but there was never a Varsity in Chicago. It’s worth noting, however, that this is clearly NOT Chicago. So that Varsity is probably somewhere in the Midwest, perhaps WI or IL.
Looks like Racine, BW. I will check.
I also found a few of those photos labeled incorrectly. If I can’t identify the theater, I don’t post them.
Here’s a whopper. I’ve never been to Memphis, but it looks amazingly like San Francisco:
http://tinyurl.com/5k5wy8
Yeah, but this theater was in Peoria, IL. :)
1982 Photo
1985 Photo
1985 Photo
Boxoffice of November 5, 1938, ran an item saying that George Kerasotes was planning to build a theater called the Varsity in Peoria. The Varsity was being designed by one of Peoria’s leading architects, J. Fletcher Lankton.
A photo of the foyer of the Varsity appeared on the cover of the Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice for March 30, 1940. The Varsity was located in an existing building, formerly a garage, which was extensively altered to serve as a theater.
Here’s a link to a photo of the Varsity:
View link
Here is a photo circa 1948:
http://tinyurl.com/ycc335y