Grand Theatre
230 Market Street,
Alton,
IL
62002
230 Market Street,
Alton,
IL
62002
6 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Balaban & Katz Corp.
Architects: Lucas Pfeiffenberger
Firms: L. Pfeiffenberger & Sons
Nearby Theaters
The Grand Theatre opened December 4, 1920, and was the largest theatre in Alton at the time, seating around 1,400, though later, seating was reduced to a little over 1,000.
It cost $150,000 to build and was managed during most of the 1920’s by William Sauvage, who also ran a handful of other Alton movie houses, including the Hippodrome Theatre and Temple Theatre.
In 1954, CinemaScope was installed at the Grand Theatre.
The last movies shown at the Grand Theatre were a double-feature of “Heavy Traffic” and “The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat” in 1977. Afterwards, the theatre was “temporarily” closed, but the “temporary” closing has lasted until the present.
It does get some use during Halloween as a “haunted theatre” (Alton is reputedly one of the most haunted cities in Illinois) but plans to reuse the Grand Theatre for a performing arts center or movie house have not gotten beyond talk yet.
The Grand Theatre is the only classic movie house in Alton remaining mostly intact whereas the others which are still standing today have been repurposed for other uses and no longer resemble their former selves.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
Lost Memory,
How do you know about the Robert-Morton theater organ size 2/8 and its installation date?
Is anyone familiar with
Illinois Theatre Association donating funds for theatre renovation?
Is there a public record of past donations?
The Grand Theatre in Alton is now a city landmark. The historical commission voted to grant the old main street theatre landmark status.
Great News.No PARKING LOT!
The city council reversed the decision of the historical commission.
It is not a city landmark.
This item from the May 22, 1920, issue of The American Contractor must be about the Grand Theatre (complete with misspellings):
The Grand Tehatre buildingis probably only about 60 feet wide, but the lot on which it sits is probably 145 x 90. Newspaper items transcribed on this web page about theaters in Madison County say that John Jianakopolis was the owner of the Grand Theatre, and that it was built by H. H. Unterbrinck. Lucas Pfeiffenberger was one of Alton’s leading architects of the period.The Grand Theatre opened on December 4, 1920.
December 4th, 1920 grand opening ad in photo section.
Mr. Osborn, I just discovered the Grand Theatre in my recent visit to Alton to research my great grandfather who lived there in the 1920-30s. I am a historic theatre advocate from the Los Angeles area, and very curious what the latest news is. From what I can see, it was dedicated as a landmark, and then removed from the list, which is frustrating, then it looks like a couple of New Year Eve parties happened. If anyone has more recent info and if it is the same owner, I’m very curious. Such a great resource for the city, it’s such a shame to see it wasting away.
richardosborn. Here is the source
Escott O. Norton: The web site of an organization called AltonWorks covers all the public rehabilitation and renovation projects currently underway in Alton, including the Grand Theatre. Plans to give the Grand project priority were put on hold by the pandemic, but the site’s Project Updates page says that the building is being stabilized for future construction.