Time Theatre
1416 Broadway Avenue,
Mattoon,
IL
61938
1416 Broadway Avenue,
Mattoon,
IL
61938
3 people
favorited this theater
When the 1911 vaudeville-turned-movie house K Theater (named for its builder, Elmore Katz) was gutted by fire in 1937, it was entirely rebuilt in stunning Art Deco style, and renamed the Time Theatre.
It was operated by the Frisina Amusement Co. in the early 1940’s.
Its glossy cream-colored glazed terra-cotta facade, with two bands of maroon colored tiles flanking the center panel, featured a V-shaped vertical sign with the theater’s name on each side. The marquee, trimmed with multi-colored neon lighting, featured an octagonal-shaped clock with a band of steel behind it, very much resembling a wristwatch.
Below, the set of doors, with their semi-circle windows and curving stainless steel handles, looked like something from a luxury liner of the era.
This beautiful example of late Art Deco theater architecture stopped showing movies in the 1980’s. In 2002, the theater was transformed into a concert venue/banquet hall, its landmark facade still in nice condition. This use lasted a couple of years before the building was closed again.
Recently, the Apostolic Center church of Mattoon has been using the former Time Theatre for presentations of Christian-themed live dramas.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
There is a photo of the Time theater here:
View link
A small color photo of the Time Theater can be seen here.
It looks like the theater’s website has taken a time out (no pun intended). Here are some photos:
http://www.agilitynut.com/05/10/mattoon2.jpg
http://www.agilitynut.com/05/10/mattoon3.jpg
http://www.agilitynut.com/05/10/mattoon1.jpg
Ken: This theatre is very unique and should be restored. I believe it is featured in Popcorn Palaces. The very talented photographer, ‘agilitynut’ has traveled around the country taking many wonderful theatre photos as I have emailed her from time to time.
I have a disk with copies of some Davis Cone paintings (Popcorn Palace), in black and white, unfortunately. I also have some photos from Michael Putnam’s book. I e-mailed management to see what the rules are on posting these, but if any CT denizen can give me the info I would appreciate it.
Here is the Davis Cone painting (original in color) dated 1983 from “Popcorn Palaces”:
http://tinyurl.com/2rekst
Here are 1983 photos. The second one is supposed to be 1987, but I doubt if the same film ran for four years.
http://tinyurl.com/coprxj
http://tinyurl.com/dlf3my
Here are more 1983 photos:
Photo1
Photo2
Photo3
I was in 5th grade at St Mary’s School when the nuns took the school to see The Sound Of Music at the Time Theater in 1965. It was a memorable day not only to go to see a movie during school, but also we had a tremendous ice storm that night that closed school for 2 days! Glad the theater is still there and in good shape!
2010 photo of the Time Theatre.
View link