Fox Valley Theaters
4001 Fox Valley Center Drive,
Aurora,
IL
60504
4001 Fox Valley Center Drive,
Aurora,
IL
60504
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At age 22, I opened the original fourplex at 4001 Fox Valley Center Drive just before Christmas in 1977. Seating was 308, 400, 400, and 604, with Dolby Stereo in the largest auditorium We opened with “The Gauntlet,” “Saturday Night Fever,” “The World’s Greatest Lover,” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” I ran the theatre until spring of ‘79 when I transferred to Orland Square 4. A few years later, a 500-seat auditorium was added to the south end, and a 300-seater to the north end. In the 80’s, prior to Cineplex-Odeon’s purchase of Plitt, the 7-10 location (pictured as “The Foundry” now) was built south of the original site on Executive Drive. We had a tragedy at each of the locations: at 1-6, the manager was shot in the head (survived, with disabilities) during a dispute between customers; at 7-10, the manager was murdered by two teens, one an ex-employee, early on Christmas Eve morning 1988. Two of the best managers I ever knew taken away…such a great loss to the industry and in Ron’s case, to humanity.
This was one of at least four 1970s multi-screen theaters designed for Plitt Theatres by the Chicago architectural firm of Finck, Stowell & Frolichstein. The others were:
Cherryvale Mall Cinema, Rockford, Illinois.
Orland Square Cinemas, Orland Park, Illinois.
Hawthorne Theatres, Vernon Hills, Illinois.
The larger (orignal) Fox Valley Theater is being demolished. Demo work started this week, and if I had to guess…it will be reduced to nothing by the end of the week.
Looks like we can post pictures, so I will try and remember to stop and take one of the demo in progress on my way home from work tonight.
There are two former theatre buildings in Fox Valley Mall. Both are off on the edge of the parking lot in the southwest corner. One has been gutted and turned into The Foundry (a large sports bar). The other, which I believe is the original building, is sitting there silently. You can make out the outline of “Plitt Theatres” where the electrical sign was once mounted. It is easy to miss unless you know it is there, because it sits on it’s own distinct parking area.
It is interesting to note that these early mall theatres, which surpassed the classic cinemas of the inner cities, have themselves been surpassed by larger facilities with stadium seating.
Fox Valley is about to get it’s theatre back. That’s right, Kerasotes Theatres will begin construction soon on ShowPlace 12 at Fox Valley Center. It is slated for 2005. Check their full list of projects here at: http://www.kerasotes.com/AboutTheaters.aspx
BTW, Plitt opened Screens 7-10 in December 84.