Roxy Theater

224 E. Main Street,
West Frankfort, IL 62896

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Fox Midwest Theatres

Functions: Office Space

Previous Names: Rex Theater

Nearby Theaters

Roxy Theater, West Frankfort, IL

The Rex Theater was opened by September 1914. Roxy Theater was opened on the site of the Rex Theater in 1950 and closed on January 5, 1956.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 23, 2008 at 5:38 pm

226 E. Main is currently a law office.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 23, 2008 at 6:10 pm

If it’s closed and not demolished, I think so. I didn’t see any other lawyers in that building, so he may have the whole thing.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 23, 2008 at 6:33 pm

I saw some parade photos from last year going down the 100 block of E. Main towards the 200 block, but the photographer was on the even side of the street, so all the photos showed odd street numbers.

cecilray
cecilray on August 13, 2015 at 4:00 pm

As I remember, it didn’t last too long. Opened in about 1950 with Bing Crosby in “Ichabod and Mr. Toad.” I never saw a movie there, and many people I knew complained about the size and the ceiling being low.

djent
djent on April 25, 2016 at 11:04 pm

This theater was first known as the REX Theater. It was operated by a retired Pharmacist, Mr. Harmon Kinison, prior to it becoming the Roxy theater. I have attached a photograph of the REX THEATER For you perusal as well as the obituary for Mr. Kinison. I am not sure that the building someone else posted is the address that the Roxy and Rex Theaters were located, but can verify that information and get back on that validity as well.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on July 29, 2019 at 12:29 pm

“WEST FRANKFORT, ILL. – The Roxy Theatre, 500-seat unit of the Fox Midwest Theatres circuit, has been closed indefinitely. Since January 5, the house had been operating on a ‘family’ basis with subsequent run product.” —BoxOffice, Feb. 4, 1956

SethG
SethG on June 15, 2023 at 7:04 am

If the 226 address is accurate, the Rex aka is wrong. The Rex was in the one story building at 224. The Rex is shown on the September 1914 Sanborn with a note: ‘To Be Motion Pictures’. It remains in operation on the 1928 map. Either it closed permanently and the Roxy opened at 226, or we have the wrong address for the Roxy, and that was a brief reopening. I can’t understand people complaining that the Rex building was small since it obviously has a much higher ceiling than 226, so I suspect these are different theaters.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 16, 2023 at 3:36 am

The October 22, 1949 issue of Boxoffice said that the 500-seat Roxy Theatre, being built at West Frankfort for the Fox Midwest circuit, was slated to open Thanksgiving Day. The item said the house was at the site of the old Rex Theatre, and construction had begun in May, 1948, after the building’s previous tenants had vacated.

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