Century 1-2-3

31 Golf Center,
Hoffman Estates, IL 60169

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Additional Info

Architects: Christopher Chamales

Functions: Restaurant

Previous Names: Thunderbird Theater

Nearby Theaters

Thunderbird

The Thunderbird Theater was the first theater in Hoffman Estates, opening on October 21, 1966 with Jennifer Jones in “The Idol” & Bob Hope in “Boy! Did I Get a Wrong Number”. As the population increased, it went from a single screen to three screens from June 2, 1978 and it was renamed Century 1-2-3. As I recall, they cut up the one big screen to make two and then built on to add the third screen.

It went out of business due to increased competition in September 1986 and was converted into a furniture showroom. In 2014 it is in use as a buffet restaurant.

Contributed by Senor Sock

Recent comments (view all 22 comments)

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on May 1, 2010 at 3:42 pm

Cool Stories.

Broan
Broan on July 19, 2010 at 3:41 pm

Architect was Christopher Chamales

Broan
Broan on August 2, 2011 at 8:27 am

It went from the Thunderbird to Century when it split in 1978, and added a third, 900 seat screen (#1) which was itself split in 1983.

rivest266
rivest266 on June 21, 2012 at 3:43 pm

Grand opening ad posted here

Pichu8boy
Pichu8boy on June 25, 2013 at 6:42 am

As of today, it is no longer a Furniture Showroom, it is now a Royal Buffet.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith on January 30, 2014 at 1:58 pm

From the looks of the building on Google and Bing, it must have been a really fine suburban theater.

I wish I could remember what I saw there while living in the area in 1985/86. If anyone can recall any particular movies exhibited there during those years, I’d sure appreciate it.

GFeret
GFeret on November 16, 2015 at 12:56 pm

I took my young sons Charlie & Ernie here for the first HOME ALONE movie. I still drive right by every couple weeks and that hibachi royal buffet restaurant that occupies the old theatre space looks to do a bumper business. If you walk through the gangway alongside the building that connects to the south (rear) parking lot anybody can easily notice the emergency exits still there that’re typical of theatres

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on August 17, 2021 at 9:56 am

Opened on October 21, 1966 with “The Idol” and “Boy Did I Get A Wrong Number”.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 16, 2022 at 11:36 am

Three screens on June 2nd, 1978 as Century 1-2-3. Grand opening ad posted.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on June 23, 2022 at 1:55 pm

Closed In September 1986.

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