Will Rogers Theater
5641 W. Belmont Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60634
5641 W. Belmont Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60634
24 people
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Showing 26 - 50 of 81 comments
I agree, not unusual. Just disturbing when it comes to theaters.
I understand the no-compete thing. I just think that when it’s applied to old movies houses, it’s pretty much the kiss of death.
The amount of money to prep a place for live events only: code upgrades, insurance etc., versus just firing up the projector again to get folks in the door, would be vastly different. Mixed use would at least give a new owner a chance to utilize the theatre as is, until they could get all their ducks in a row. Continue to run films until they found their new niche.
That’s not an unusual covenant. That’s why you’ll see abandoned wal-marts, grocery stores, etc when they build a new one in the area. Also why theatres often go live instead of showing films. In this case, it was Brickyard.
Or theres that…Thanks.
I just reread RiisPark’s 2007 post that cited a 1986 selling criteria, as a “stipulation that the buyer cannot show movies in the building”.
This would seem a disturbing clause even by today’s standards.
It all but insures that the/a theater won’t sell, except to a developer with no intention of saving or restoring such a site.
To think that C-O was that ruthless to avoid competition even back then, seems shameful. Apparently to C-O, it was not a vintage theatre. Just another temporary screen to bring in some numbers.
The irony that such a corporate action took place involving a theatre named after Will Rogers, needs not even be said.
http://mekong.net/random/photo98.htm
http://mekong.net/random/photo99.htm
Go to the Commodore Theatre-(in Chicago) page on Cinema Treasures.
The link is embedded in the 01/29/07 post by Cam.
It’s got Mekong.net in the link.
Clicking on that link takes you directly to it’s theatre’s page.
Follow the instructions in the post. The Will Rogers is in the same gallery as the Commodore.
What is the web address?
FYI. I just happened to catch some exterior pictures of the Will Rogers Theater on the “Mekong” site/link, that is on the Commodore Theatre in Chicago page. As well as a many others. I’m posting this because I see no other active links with exterior photos currently on this page.
they definitely went CO before they closed. i was an usher there at that time and when plitt went to CO our uniforms went from red sports jackets with black ties to this weird red sgt. peppers-leisure-suit-thingy with a black ascot. really quite embarrassing.
Most likely. I don’t ever remember seeing the name C-O anywhere at the Will.
So then the Plitt name must have been used for about a year after the C-O takeover.
Paul,
I can’t answer all of your questions but I can give you this much information:
This is from the local newspaper THE LEADER dated 11/19/86:
“The Will Rogers Theater, a Belmont Central landmark since the 1940’s, was boarded up and listed for sale last week. The asking price is half a million dollars and there is a stipulation that the
buyer cannot show movies in the building.”
The article goes on to state that the orignal owners were Balaban &Katz but later was owned by Plitt and that in the spring of 1985 was purchased by Cineplex Odeon of Toronto. The article also stated
that the head of the Belmont-Central chamber of commerce inquired of what the chain intended to with the Will he was told by a Linda
Friendly of their PR dept. that “we have no plans to stop showing films at the theatre at this time. It’s a good theatre for us.” and
that the rumor about razing the Will was “ridiculous” and “we don’t want to see it boarder up.”
Well boarding it up and razing it is exactly what they had in mind.
In reviewing movie ads from 1986, the Chicago Tribune shows that the Will Rogers was still open in July of that year. It was plaing THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE and FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR. In the ads for December 23, 1986 the Will Rogers is not shown, so I’m assuming that it closed sometime between July and December, 1986. Apparantly, it was showing family fare until the end.
Also, the ads for July, 1986 show it as being “Plitt and Essaness”. By December, the ads show “Cineplex-Odeon and Plitt.” So
1) Did Plitt and Essaness merge prior to the takeover by C-O?
2) When did the takeover of Plitt/Essaness by C-O occur?
3) Did the Will Rogers actually make it into the C-O chain? Or was it closed prior to this?
What’s also interesting is that the above comments state that the Bricktown was the intended replacement for the Will Rogers and the Mercury. But the Bricktown didn’t come along until nearly three years after the Will Rogers closed (the Mercury was still operating on 12/23/86).
Melodance,
Actually, the Bricktown, which was the replacement for the Will Rogers and the Mercury, was a Cineplex-Odeon. ABC had been taken over by Plitt circa 1974(?). Plitt had been taken over by C-O circa 1985-6.
The early multiplexes built by C-O circa 1986-1989 were an attempt by that company to modernize the movie-going experience in Chicagoland. But most of them didn’t last long. The only one left that I can think of is the Lincoln Village 1-6 and who knows how long that one’s gonna last.
BJ & Dirty Dragon was one of the last live kids shows to air from Chicago. Now it’s all animated and syndicated.
I was by the spot last Sunday. The strip mall where the Will stood is still cheezy as ever but the old Goldblatts building across the street is now an interesting European fruit and deli market.
My brother and I would go here often as the theatre showed many of Walt Disney’s films or other movies of the gendre.
Too bad it couldn’t be re-used. Served ABC right that the new cineplex wasn’t a success!
Riis Park and Paul F.
I’ll go one better. I once saw “BJ & Dirty Dragon” here. A special episode of the TV show was being filmed here.
Now I’ve REALLY dated myself!
It was Rich Koz—and the place was packed.
Riis Park,
Did you see the original Svengoolie there, or did you see Rich Koz’s Son of Svengoolie (although he now uses simply Svengoolie)?
My girlfriend, now my fiancee, saw Koz/Svengoolie at the Portage in October, 2006.
Nice ad. I like Balaban & Katz making their presence felt as part of the marquee.
The Will Rogers was where I cried when Old Yeller died. I also saw “The Black Hole” and “Fantasia” at that beautiful theatre. That whole retail district was really kitschy-cool back in the 70s and 80s.
I was a Shamrock too, class of ‘66. A movie theatre is an anchor of a community and when the Will was shuttered and wrecked so went BC.
Another memory I have is taking my young daughter and nephew to the Will on a Saturday afternoon around 1980 to see Svengoolie live.
I remember this theater from when I used to live in Chicago. I was sorry to see it gone upon returning there. I went to St. Patrick’s high school down Belmont Ave in 1967. I would ride the Central Ave bus north to go home. Depending on weather conditions I’d walk from school to Central always seeing what was playing there. Mostly I would go to the Gateway or Portage as they wee closer to home. However I remember seeing the St.Valentine’s Day Massacre and Divorce American Style ther in 1967.After that year I moved away never seeing the theater again.
I remember eating ice cream during the shows in the 70’s. Also during the Plitt era they had little pull tabs on the popcorn and drinks to win prizes.
Grand Mogul,
Do you have a copy of this ad?
CHICAGO TRIBUNE ad for Saturday, September 5, 1936, announced that the Will Rogers opened on that date. So sad they demolished it, so many treasures gone, and replaced by banality … oh, well …