Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse
1826 Third Avenue,
Rock Island,
IL
61201
1826 Third Avenue,
Rock Island,
IL
61201
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I have some memories of this place. This was THE main theater in the Quad Cities. It was strictly first-run. It also had a hotel, which was built a few years after the theater. The Showcase Cinemas in Milan relegated the Fort to lesser status. Had it not been for David Hitchcock, it probably wouldn’t exist today. He turned it into Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse in 1976. The hotel is now a senior citizen apartment building.
Here is a 2009 photo.
1982 Photo
This is a circa 1937 postcard picture of the Fort Theater.
A Bennett theater organ was installed in the Fort Armstrong Theater in 1921.
Here are some recent photos of the Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse. Click each photo to expand it.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980
Fort Armstrong Theatre (added 1980 – Building – #80001407)
Also known as Fort Theatre
1826 3rd Ave., Rock Island
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Cervin & Horn
Architectural Style: No Style Listed
Area of Significance: Architecture, Entertainment/Recreation
Period of Significance: 1900-1924
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Theater
Current Function: Recreation And Culture
Current Sub-function: Theater
The Fort went through an array of operators, A.H. Blank Theatre, Publix, Tri States Theatres and Tanner Theatres. The Fort was the largest theatre in Rock Island, the Spencer was the second largest with about half the seating as the Fort with 866.
Opened in 1921, the Fort Armstrong Theater was designed by architect Benjimin Horn of the Cervin & Horn practice, associate architect was W.T. Braun. The architectural style is Native Indian and it had a seating capacity of 1623.
The Fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.