Bricktown Square Cinema
6420 W. Fullerton Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60707
6420 W. Fullerton Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60707
5 people
favorited this theater
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I do remember seeing a few movies there in 1991 and 1992 “Strictly Business”, “JFK”, “Mo' Money” and “A Few Good Men”. The theatre was nice and clean during that time years before it fell apart.
Talk about a short lifespan! Besides the mall failing around, I gather this place had some serious managerial issues towards the end.
This theater turned into trash. I lived a short walk away, and have fond memories of the whole area, from the mall to Funcoland to Petland. But the gangs ruined it, just like they ruined the whole of Grant west into EP
Ridge Plaza was in Arlington Heights.
Ridge Plaza? Did you mean The Commons of Chicago Ridge? The theatre as located in a shopping center across from the Chicago Ridge Mall. It was only 4 screens, but was kept up very well and a great place to see a movie. I miss the 80’s style cinemas. I work out at the XSport that has taken its place. The 6 screen theatre in the mall is still in operation.
And the Ridge Plaza, too. All three are XSport Fitness locations. Interesting.
I echo Paul’s sentiments. Amazing how quickly this theater deteriorated. I remember seeing Back to the Future 3 there as a kid when it was brand new. 7 or 8 short years later, I remember seeing Scream 2 there and worrying about getting beat up in the front.
I was just in the neighborhood the other week and to answer an earlier posting, looks like they left the front of the theater intact and they just gutted it from the inside. It is now a 24 hour extreme fitness center. Almost exactly what they did with the old Golf Mill theater-
If i recall their is now a Sportmart or some kind of sporting goods store on this spot.
Thanks for that.
Life’s Too Short:
In reading several histories of the Brickyard Mall, many in the neighborhood did not want it in the first place. Initially the mall did a renumerative business however as the years went on it began to be more of a hangout. As I said above, the mall lost its three anchors (Wards, Penneys, and Kmart) within a matter of months of one another.
The “Lifestyle Center” of big box stores that replaced the mall appears to be doing well. The “Lifestyle Centers” tend not to be hangouts because people go there to shop and then leave.
The Bricktown wasn’t really located in the Brickyard. It was located in a shopping center—a strip mall—located adajacent to the mall.
The Bricktown wasn’t exactly
It seems to me that the Brickyard Mall has never been any good to anyone. I guess I am a little surprised that it did not totally close up like other failing malls with crime problems (EX: Dixie Square in Harvey).
Cinemark Fan,
As I recall, the theatre was a single story one. There were about 2 or 3 free-standing pay booths as you entered. The auditoriums I beleive, were to the right on the south side of the building. I believe that the gym occupies the same structure tho I’m not 100% sure of this.
You seem to have the same affinity for these 1980s ‘plexes that I do. When you did your papers for school, did you include Cineplex-Odeon and its rapid downfall? I read a link to an article when C-O first entered the Chicagoland Area and the great optimisim the company had. I often wonder what went wrong. Of the 17 or so cinemas opened by C-O between 1987-1989, most have closed and some have even been demolished.
One more note on the Bricktown. By 1993 the theatre had already become rundown and scuzzy.
To Paul: I wish there were pictures I could see of this place. Can you describe this place to me? Was it a two level building like Burnham and Lincoln Village 1-6?
To some extent, the Bricktown was intended to be the replacement for the Will Rogers and the Mercury (and to a lesser extent the Montclare, but that theatre was never owned by C-O/Plitt). As other people have said, the Bricktown was nice when it opened up, but quickly fell into decline. It lasted only 11 years.
I must admit that I have a peculiar interest in these 1980s multiplexes opened by Cineplex-Odeon. They were once considered modern, but quickly became obsolete and now only a few remain.
Kerasotes has had a listing on their upcoming projects page showing a 14-screen at Armitage and Grand for a while now.
I heard a rumor that Keresotes will build a multiplex near the corner of Grand/Central.
Was this theatre demolished and replaced with a new structure? Or did the gym move into the existing structure?
Per Jayne’s comment above, the Brickyard Mall went under because Penney’s, K-Mart, and Wards all closed within a matter of months of each other. No mall can withstand the loss of all three of its anchors. The Jewel Food Store survived, however, and a new shopping center was built with “big box” stores like Target.
I saw “Internal Affairs”, “Born on the Fourth Of July”, and “Parenthood” here. When this place opened up, it seemed like THE place to see movies. Advance ticketing. Acceptance of credit cards. But like the Burnham Plaza Theatre, which opened at about the same time (and is scheduled to close), it became an example of how NOT to run a theatre.
My family and I went to see “Back to the Future II” at the Bricktown Theater the same year it opened up, and I saw a couple others there through the next two or three years. After 1993 or so, the clientele visiting the theater, as mentioned, really took a downward turn and I wasn’t even allowed to go to the mall next door (I was in high school at the time). It was the only movie theater that was really close to our house, the Norridge Theaters being the second closest.
This theater was beautiful inside when they first opened, but the criminal element killed it. Stories of cars being stolen in the parking lot and people being hit over the head. Too many scary people hanging around. That’s what killed the Brickyard Mall too. The neighborhood was okay, but you just didn’t feel safe around there.
The first films that I have seen at The Bricktown Square was “Strictly Business” and “JFK” in 1991. The last one was “A Few Good Men” in 1992. The theater closed in 2000 because Meridan Theaters failed to pay taxes to run these theaters in the City of Chicago. Once they paid the taxes some had reopened but the Bricktown Square remained closed.
There is now A gym where this theater once sat.