Evanston 5 Theaters
1716 Central Street,
Evanston,
IL
60201
1716 Central Street,
Evanston,
IL
60201
11 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 49 of 49 comments
Last time I was through there, about a month ago, it was still sitting.
The Evanston is set for demolition. The City Council just voted to allow its destruction so someone can build condos on the site.
Another blow for preservation.
I’ve posted this same comment on the Varsity Theater discussion, but I have to admit that it was the Central Street location that first came to my mind when I started thinking about mounting this sort of a renovation project…
I just returned from Portland Oregon, where over the last 15 years they’ve seen about 12-15 of these old theater’s reclaimed for use as brew-pub/restaurants, where you can eat while you watch a film on the big screen. It’s a terrific use of the space, an asset to the community, and obviously they’re doing well as businesses. They typically take out all the old seats and replace them with scattered sofas and coffee tables, or they remove every other row of the theater seating and put in long tables, so that eating is quite comfortable. They serve good but simple fare, along the lines of high-end pizza or burgers, along with wine and beer (often micro-brewed, though not on-site). At non-peak times they use the space for classics, art film series, midnight shows, birthday parties, kids movies and so on.
Any interest is seeing this sort of development? If so, contact me.
Hope I am not stealing your thunder B. But I just discovered this great photo set you have assembled:
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Great memories of this place. It was the first place I can actually remember seeing a full length motion picture and it was “The Empire Strikes Back”. I saw my first unsupervized film here which was “Back to the Future Part II”, that was also the first time I’d seen a line stretch as far as the block could go! Also in my early teenage years, my buddies and I made many summertime pilgrammages and long days here seeing everything they had running in each screening room. My best friend worked up the street at the solo screen our senior year of high school so we got to see alot more films for free then as well. Good times.
The Evanston was independent up until M&R, and then passed to M&R/Loews, Sony/Loews, and Loews/Cineplex.
The Varsity and Coronet were indeed Plitts.
In reviewing movie ads circa 1997, the Evanston was a Sony Theatre. But wasn’t the Evanston a Plitt at one time too? I Think also the Varsity and the Coronet were Plitts.
The Stadium opened April 17, 1937. The original facade was in blue, white and gold, Terra Cotta from the American Terra Cotta Co. and boasted “Mirrophonic sound, hearing aids, a $10,000 ultra-modernistic lobby, and deluxe seating comfort”. It closed in July 1952 and was reopened by Evanston actress Hope Summers. Finding the acoustics ‘phenomenal’, she rounded up backers, moved the curtain forward, enlarged the stage, and built dressing rooms. From December 1952-1954, a legitimate playhouse called the Showcase, featuring Summer stock theater, later expanded to year-round. It closed following a minor on-stage fire that caused about $2,500 damage, but not enough to keep it from planning to reopen the next night. It was afterward, reopening July 1 1955, that it adopted the Evanston name. The remodeling to its current appearance took place in August and September, 1960, adding the Indiana Limestone and blue glazed brick facade. Also added were walnut paneling in the vestibule and a glass wall separating the inner and outer lobbies, as well as the marquee and new storefronts. Radio station WEAW was located in the building at that time. Architect for these renovations was Louis E. Fideler, Jr. An art gallery was also run out of the lobby for some time. The manager for the theater for some time after 1955 was Lester Stepner, a former film booking agent who drew considerable praise for maintaining a family-friendly atmosphere, including the approval of 22 PTA organizations. He ran many children’s matinees, adjusted schedules to fit patrons needs. He ran it for at least 20 years, opening the Evanston II in June, 1969. Also noteworthy is that the shops adjoining the theater predate the theater itself.
M&R took over the Evanston in October, 1984.
According to the above, Loews at one point had this theatre. Prior to that, wouldn’t it have been a C-O/Plitt or M&R?
Yeah, it has been pretty obvious for a while. No leases are being renewed in the retail block. It wasn’t long ago that the owner of the deli opened that premium restaurant on the corner. We were talking about this state of affairs one night and he said there would be hell to pay if they tried to break his lease. I imagine he must have signed a pretty long lease to invest as much money in those renovations as he did. I wonder how much they paid him to make that situation go away. Probably not much in comparison to the selling price.
Word is the are tearing down both theaters and all the store fronts next spring. A real shame we loose another one in this area. I’ll miss you evanston, some fun times had.
Architect for the Stadium was JEO Pridmore (Chicago Tribune, June 14, 1936)
Boy, was it a dump by 1999…smelled musty, sticky floors…the whole nine yards. I remember taking my first girlfriend to see JFK there…a mistake. People still flocked to the place, though…it had parking. The Century put an end to all that…and, I must admit, I think it’s a better place to see a show. The Evanston never worked with four screens. The cinemas were oddly shaped…although the single screen down the street was OK. Nevertheless, generations of us went to the movies there. I guess if they could retrofit the Coronet for live shows, they could make the Evanston work. So, maybe it has another round to go…
The 1999 Loews directory shows that this theatre had 5 auditoriums with seating capacities of 525, 475, 425, 200 and 170, for a total of 1795 seats. The largest two had stereo, and the remaining were mono. Highest ticket at the time was $7.75. It was part of the Downtown Chicago division.
Most of this is news to me. The most surprising part of the article is that they were thinking of reopening the Varsity, in downtown Evanston. The Varsity was the best place in town…and people who have worked in the building within the last fifteen years say that it is intact above the retail space on the first floor. Maybe it will come out of hibernation some day.
Central St. Performing Arts Center — Feasible?
By Beth Demes
Evanston Round Table
Volume IV Number 12
June 6, 2001
Performing arts organizations in Evanston are keeping their fingers crossed – twice.
First, that the City Council approves a grant to study converting the old Central Street movie theaters into a performing arts center. And, second, that the study proves the dream feasible.
City Council is expected to consider the $56,100 grant, requested by Light Opera Works and Dance Center Evanston, the two main tenants of the proposed performance venue, at its June 11 meeting. The Economic Development Committee approved the grant at its May 23 meeting after much discussion.
If City Council approves the grant, David Woodhouse Architects, a design firm that specializes in cultural and recreational centers, will assess the feasibility and cost of converting the former Evanston Theater, 1702 Central Street, for use by the two proposed tenants. They will also look at how the space might accommodate other Evanston performing arts groups, such as the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, Piven Theatre, Next Theatre and Organic Theater. “It’s in our best interest to sublease as much of the space as possible [to other performing arts groups],” said Bridget McDonough, general manager of Light Opera Works. The study might determine, she added, that there could be a third theater in the space, potentially allowing a third main tenant for the building.
Gordon Magill, trustee for the owners of the building, said the theater was built in the 1920s as a movie house and was used at one point for live performances. Before being cut into smaller movie theaters, the property had two auditoriums in two separate buildings. The larger auditorium, the original movie house called the “west theater,” now broken into four theaters, is actually located at 1716 Central St. The smaller “east theater,” a former gym converted to a movie theater in the early 1970s, has the 1702 Central St. address.
Light Opera Works is interested in the west theater, which holds 1,200 to 1,500 seats. Dance Center Evanston is looking at the 600-seat east theater for studio and flexible performance space. “I believe in the project, and I believe in the people who are committed to make it happen,” Mr. Magill told Economic Development Committee members at the May meeting.
He said he would hold off marketing the building, vacant since Loews Theaters closed in late February, to other tenants as long as there is steady progress on the project and “light at the end of the tunnel.”
“[Converting] the Central Street theaters from a movie house to a working performing arts center…would ensure that two of our City’s leading cultural institutions would be with us for a long time to come,” Carol Daskais Navin, a Dance Center Evanston Board member, told the Committee.
Light Opera Works has offered musical theater in Evanston for the past 20 years and produces four shows a year, three in Northwestern University’s Cahn Auditorium and one in the YMCA Child Care Center Auditorium. The non-profit arts organization draws about 29,000 patrons a year and has 2,700 subscribers. Dance Center Evanston, 610 Davis St., opened in 1994 as a dance school for students ages three and older. The school, under owner and director Bˆ©a Rashid, has grown from 70 to 500 students who take classes in ballet, modern dance, jazz and tap. The non-profit Evanston Dance Ensemble is a civic dance company that draws from the school.
Both performing arts groups had already outgrown their present quarters and were looking for larger spaces when the Central Street theaters became vacant. But retrofitting the old movie theaters for major live productions will not be easy. The greatest challenge, said Ms. McDonough, may be adapting the west theater for Light Opera Works' needs, which include an orchestra pit large enough for 35 pieces, a fly loft and wing space.
Several Economic Development Committee members were concerned about the cost of the conversion and ongoing operation and who would foot the bill.
Ms. McDonough pointed out that her organization and Ms. Rashid’s would be signing leases for the space and have already discussed possible rents with Mr. Magill. Both groups, she added, would rely first on their donor bases to raise money for the rehab, before approaching the larger community. She would not say what their fundraising limit might be, or whether the City may be needed to fill a gap, preferring to wait for the results of the study first. The City has also been non-committal about subsidizing such a project. It has not been willing to consider sizable funding in the past for performing arts centers.
Two years ago, as part of the plan for the downtown Church Street Plaza development, the architect hired by developer Arthur Hill estimated that the construction cost for a second-level performing arts center above a new Levy Senior Center would be about $13 million. As an alternative, the City looked into rehabbing the former Varsity Theater on Sherman Avenue; that also proved to be expensive at $10 million. With estimates of private fund-raising capacity limited to $4 million and the City’s inability to fill the funding gap, that proposed performing arts center fell apart.
An earlier attempt in the late 1980s for an Evanston performing arts center to house the Northlight Theatre also failed because of cost and funding difficulties.
In a separate interview, Ms. McDonough said she thought the Central Street proposal would be different. Compared to the Varsity Theater, the Central Street theaters are in better condition and should not be as expensive to retrofit. She also said that instead of creating a new non-profit to raise the funds and operate the building, as the Church Street Plaza plan contemplated, two existing, established arts organizations would take the lead, making the fundraising easier.
Scheduling multiple groups for the space, always a challenge in a single performing arts venue, might also be easier because of the inherent priority of the organizations leasing the space.
Some City officials have pointed out that Evanston already has a performing arts center – the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St.
Ms. McDonough and others in the arts community say the Noyes Center is very supportive and valuable because it offers space to arts organizations at reduced rent, but it has limitations.
Joyce Piven, artistic director of the Piven Theatre Workshop, told the RoundTable they juggle holding classes and performing shows in their space at the Noyes Center.
“If we are able to put out one or two [of our four shows per season] in another venue, it would give us room to breathe,” explained Ms. Piven. That is why the Central Street proposal is so appealing. Ideally, she said, they would be looking for a house with 200 to 250 seats.
“We seem to have a burgeoning of very solid performance groups in Evanston that have already received city-wide recognition, either through the [Joseph Jefferson Awards] committee, or through Chicago newspapers, or through the gathering audiences that we have here,” Ms. Piven continued. “We feel that a performance center of some kind would really be a stunning thing for the North Shore. It’s something that is waiting to happen.”
Why not turn it into a multi use Youth Center? One or two theaters could house films, another could be a workout center, andother could be a dance hall with live acts, another game room with Dance Dance revolution and arcades, and maybe the last one could house a restaurant. Any takers?!
I remember going to see Dr. Zhivago on Friday, January 27th, 1967… my last day of high school. I was graduating after the 1st semester of my 2nd Senior Year (long story…)
I went with Emily Everitt, a good High School pal, and we wouldn’t be deterred from our “last date” even though there was about 32 inches of snow on the ground from the biggest blizzard to hit the Chicago area ever.
Nobody was on the streets… no cars, no police, nobody… except me and Emily. The snow was very deep and I knew that if I parked on the street, we’d have to dig ourselves back into my dad’s 1963 Plymouth… so I parked directly under the theater’s marquee and in we went.
There weren’t more than a dozen or so people in the movie with us… and when it ended, out we went and there was my dad’s car sitting there, nearly clean as a whistle with little or no snow on it.
I took Emily home to Glencoe and headed back to my house and the next morning headed to the USAF.
What a wonderful last High School date the Evanston Theater provided me. Thanks… I’ll always remember you.
Gene Hilsheimer
Panama City, FL
I remember the Evanston Theater of the late fifties and early sixties. It was one of the only theaters on the North Shore that would show blockbuster movies in stereo sound, just like downtown Chicago theaters.
The Evanston had a single, large, wide screen and was proud of its sound system, so much so that they would be sure their newspaper ads stressed “in Stereophonic Sound”. Although I often went down to the loop to catch first run films, I knew I could catch another look at those films a few months later (and a few dollars cheaper) at the Evanston. Specifically, I remember South Pacific, Carousel, Oklahoma, Around the World in 80 Days, Ben-Hur, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and more.
They also ran a successful cartoon carnival every Saturday afternoon for years. Sometimes it would be an all Mighty Mouse program or an all Looney Tunes or all Popeye, etc.
Northwestern University also used the theater occasionally for film criticism seminars, held on weekday mornings so as not to interfere with afternoon feature films. (I remember attending a couple while I was attending New Trier High School.)
The problem with turning what is left of the old Evanston (I don’t know what is left of it;it’s been a long time since I was up that way) into an art or foreign film house is many of those films are shown at the Cine Arts or at the Wilmette, both within a short distance of the old Evanston.
I liked the Evanston much more before it was broken up into multiple screens. As I recall, many of the things shown at the Evanston were not the same kind of movie as was shown at the Varsity or Valencia – they were the more popular movies. At least ntil someone tried an experiment and started showing old movies at one of them (I forget which). They also had a theater in Dallas.
My name is Jeff Hazlett and I am a film major at Bucknell University. I am also a lifelong Evanstonian and I am interested in buying and restoring the old Evanston Theater. I would like to turn it into a Not-for-Profit Theater that shows second run, or smaller art and foreign films. I would also like to use it as a site for film festivals and student films. If anyone has information has to who owns the property or wants to just show support, please leave a comment on this message board or contact me directly via my email address,
I want to save a small art movie houses.
-Jeff
UPDATE:
Theater 1 down the street (not shown in pic) has been bought (i think) Theres been some work going on in it. I was walking by yesterday, and to my surprise theater 1 (separate building) has been gutted. The screen (as far as i can see though the door) is still intact, but all the 525 seats have been taken out. I wondered around the outside of the building and no dumpster with old seats. Maybe there re-doing them? I’ll update next time i know more.
I live 2 blocks from this theater, and all-though i did not go all the time, i did go every few weeks, it was falling apart (this is from about 96 to 00) but it was great, there was just some thing about it that i and many others loved… Though Loews owned it, all the people who worked there where awesome. Yes, among many others of this area, we all really miss this theater. As of 5-06-02, NOTHING has happened, a few months ago, a water pipe broke in the office/font doors, and some damage has been done, but nothing that bad, some one repaired it. The idea for the performing arts center and dance studio, failed because of the owner/who-ever/land lord, is asking WAY to much for the lot. There has been a few rumors going around that, some one is going to buy it, fix it up, and bring back the 1 screen, from the oddly shaped 4. But that is just a rumor, Ill be sure to post again if i hear any thing.
I do miss it though.. :(
-alex