Rice Lake Square Cinemas
301 Rice Lake Square,
Wheaton,
IL
60187
301 Rice Lake Square,
Wheaton,
IL
60187
1 person
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The grand opening of this cinema was on Friday, December 22, 1989 featuring ten completely new state-of-the-art wide screened cinemas. Striking interior design with luxurious plush seating throughout. Dolby stereo sound systems in all ten auditoriums. Completely handicapped accessible and special listening systems for hearing impaired patrons. Advance ticket purchases during regular box office hours for same day film presentations. Plentiful free parking, and real butter served on fresh, hot pop corn.
The Rice Lake Square Cinemas were shuttered by Loews Cineplex at the end of August, 2003. Just after it closed, the theater was completely gutted, replaced by a Linens-n-Things store.
Contributed by
Aaron Wood, Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Okay, the AMC in Warrenville was closer to Rice Lake Square than the South Barrington. However, Streamwood was just 25/30 minutes away from RLS which had big auditoriums that sat about 500+ according to my brother. So when you look at it, Rice Lake was loosing patrons after 1994.
Cinemark Fan,
Are any cinemas remaining in the Chicagoland Area with the C-O look of the 1980s (i.e. As you put it “Zig-Zag stuff on the auditorium walls, seats with cream colored backs, carpeting etc.”)? The only two possibilities I can think of are the Rivertree Court and the Lincoln Village.
I think that the last two Cineplex-Odeons opened in the Chicagoland Area were the 600 North and the Quarry (a.k.a. Hodgkins). But these of course were done in a ‘90s style, similar to the three ICE Theatres.
Paul:
I know River Oaks 1-6 in Calumet City still contains CO’s trademark 80’s design. If I’m not mistaken, North Riverside and Bloomingdale Court still got the 80’s design too.
As did the Golf Glen, although that opened up as an Essaness, passed to Plitt, and then became a C-O. The G.G. was renovated into the C-O style, which it retained until it closed last year.
This was initially announced as “Danada Square”
Does Linen & Things still occupy the building? I heard that Linens & Things went bankrupt and will close several locations.
Paul, the Rice Lake Square Linens-n-Things was not on the list of their stores in Illinois that are scheduled to close according to the Chicago Tribune.
I believe the linens and things has closed.
By the way, this theater was far and away the best in the area when it opened, and was always well-maintained. A fantastic theater. However, the AMC Cantera 30 in Warrenville, just 10 minutes away, was even more state of the art when it opened in ‘98 with its stadium seating, rounded screens, and better sound, and Rice Lake just couldn’t compete. As much as I loved Rice Lake, I found myself driving the extra 10 minutes to AMC once it opened.
I believe Linens-n-Things totally ceased operations. If so, what is this building being used for now?
Has this place been demolished already? The status is shown as “Closed/Demolished” but I haven’t found anything about a demolition.