Fox Theatre
303 S. Mattis Avenue,
Champaign,
IL
61821
303 S. Mattis Avenue,
Champaign,
IL
61821
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The 900-seat Fox Country Fair opened in 1967, on the corner of Mattis and Springfield, for National General Theatres. It was located in a two story building with a large, triangular marquee, and when it opened, could show both Todd A-O and Cinerama features. The opening movie was the now-forgotten Disney film “Monkeys Go Home” starring Dean Jones.
While the Country Fair primarily showed first-run commercial films like “Star!”, “Camelot”, and “The Godfather”, it did also screen B-grade “adult” fare on ocassion, such as “Go Go Pussycats”.
In 1973, National General was purchased by Tedd Mann, and under the Mann Theatres chain, the theater’s name was shortened to simply the Fox Theatre. However, in three years, the Fox was shuttered after a new four-screener opened at the nearby Country Fair mall.
In 1977, the theater was gutted and converted into a bank.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Here is a photo record showing the theater shortly after its conversion to a bank.
This video tells the Fox history and shows rare images;
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