Hawthorn Theaters
295 Center Drive,
Vernon Hills,
IL
60061
295 Center Drive,
Vernon Hills,
IL
60061
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This quad was located at the Hawthorn Center Mall in Vernon Hills and was opened by Plitt Theatres in the early 1980’s. It was later run by Cineplex Odeon, which closed it in the mid-1990’s, after which it was converted into a nighclub which operated for a couple of years. The former theater building was demolished in 2001 and replaced by a “big box”-style Babies-R-Us store.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
Wow! How times change. I went on countless dates to this theater starting in 1980 (The Blues Brothers) and into the mid 80’s and now, it’s gone.
Wait, I just remembered seeing Star Wars at this theater on Christmas night 1977 with my family.
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.
Fox Valley Theatres, Aurora, Illinois.
Here is a July 1982 ad from the Daily Herald:
http://tinyurl.com/r48p5r
The Hawthorn and Fox Valley opened simultaneously on December 18, 1977. They closed in July 1998.
According to this article in today’s Daily Herald, a new 12-screen theater is being built at the Hawthorn Center Mall, bringing movies back to the mall after a long absence.
Saw so many great films here. Alien, E.T., 1941, Return of the Jedi on opening day, Temple of Doom, Ordinary People, Twilight Zone: The Movie… even Battlestar Galactica in sensurround!
And Poltergeist. Can’t forget that. Many a time did I meet friends here. It was definitely a place to be. It had a really long concession stand that covered almost the whole front foyer. There was also a small video game arcade on the west side of the foyer.
The big theater in the building was cinema 1, on the west side of the building. It was pretty big. I’d guess more than 500 seats. The two middle theaters were real boxy rectangles – nothing special at all. The theater on the east side of the building wasn’t, as I recall, as large as the left-side theater, but it was an ok showplace. I will say that sometimes the sound from the theaters on the other side of the walls drifted over. The screens also had curtains that opened and closed before every show.
And the decor was brown and maroon. Lots of dark red, the curtains in particular.