Was in the area today and you are right. If you didn’t know any better, you’d never know there was a theater there once. The front doors are blocked off and the marquee is down from the front of the building. I went up the stairs around to the other side of the building and there are in fact retail stores there. Not sure if it was always that way, but from the looks of the front they are probably gutting it or just leaving the front of the building alone unoccupied or for storage since the property has been closed for so long. As you said, what a waste. I saw a lot of movies here in college (you just may have sold me a ticket there and at North Riverside and to my parents at Mercury and Forest Park too) and it was a nice place. All these new multiplexes lack character (not to mention adequete space) and moviegoing is no longer an experience anymore as evidenced by all the old theaters closing. I fear the Norridge is the next one to go as I heard rumors Cost Co wants to move in there. They recently tweaked the marquee and things looked a little run down in there when I was in there this week. That and the Lake are the last 2 places left that I saw movies at when I was growing up. Really too bad, thanks for the update though. Glad to see someone feels the way I do about some of thes old places-
Has anyone heard anything about whether this theater is closing or not? I drove by it the other day and saw half the marquee was ripped down. Could be a bad sign. I hope it doesn’t close, it’s one of the few remaining places I went to as a kid.
If the last post is true, another theater I grew up going to bites the dust. I really hoped after years of inactivity, someone would buy it and revive it. Such a shame that another formerly great place to see movies is going to be gutted in favor of generic retail stores that will be gone in a few years anyways. Intersting how some of these places (Oak Brook 1-4, Bricktown Square, Hillside Square, Forest Park Mall) were only open for 10-20 years and closed as quickly as they came-
Yikes. Close call here! I ran across this online on CBS 2’s website, happened just yesterday:
CBS) CHICAGO A fire has broken out at a shuttered movie theater high-rise building in the Streeterville neighborhood north of downtown.
The fire was reported at 330 E. Ohio St., just off Fairbanks Court.
CBS 2’s Rafael Romo reports workers touched a small fire inside of the shuttered McClurg Court Theatres, a former movie multiplex. Fire officials said there were no injuries and the fire was put out quickly with hand pumps.
A still-and-box alarm was called for the fire, along with an EMS Plan 1, which sends five ambulances, according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.
The building is about a block from CBS 2’s studios. Fire vehicles were using Ontario Street right outside CBS 2 as a staging area, and police closed down streets throughout the Streeterville neighborhood.
CBS 2 Producer Dan Kraemer reported from the scene there was a major response from the Fire Department, but the small fire appeared to be out by 12:20 p.m.
Since a fire killed six people in 2003 at the Cook County Administration Building, at 69 W. Washington St., and another fire brought massive damage to the LaSalle Bank Building downtown a year later, the Fire Department routinely sends extra amount of equipment and personnel to high-rise fires or responses to hirise alarms.
The Cook County building fire was the subject of an investigation for more than a year, concentrating in large part on the need for improved responses from the Fire Department for high-rise fires.
CBS 2’s Rafael Romo, Producer Dan Kraemer, and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
Bizarre how a fire could’ve started in an abandoned theater. Luckily doesn’t seem to be any major damage. Cinemark Fan, any new developments in your quest to purchase this theater?
My only vivid memory of this place was seeing Transformers the movie there. I also remember it being shuttered around thetime I started high school and staying vacant for almost 10 years. A ministry purchased the theater space finally and eventually the entire mall. Funny thing is I work as a program screener for one of the stations in town and one of the religous programs we run (Bill Winston) is the very one who bought the theater and the mall. They show the outside of the theater structure at the beginning (it has been radically remodeled inside and out) and though I don’t remember how the theater was laid out, I bet they made all 3 auditoriums into one big one where they hold services. Obviously, it was redecorated inside and all new seating was put in. Anyone wondering how the theater looked on the inside, the closest you can come is by checking out Bill Winston’s show!
I remember seeing The Patriot here weeks before it closed. It was the only showing after 7pm (they were also showing Chicken Run and Thomas the Tank Engine) the box office in the front wasn’t even open, we paid for our tickets at the candy counter. I don’t even think the lights worked in the theater they showed the movie in. I knew the end was definitely near. Sure enough, next time I drove by on 290 it was shuttered. It’d be interesting to see what it looks like on the inside as a church. It’s ironic that there was another theater directly across the expressway and shortly after Hillside Mall closed, so did Hillside Square and it became a church as well. I always thought Hillside Mall was kind of dumpy even when I was a kid. That marquee was so unique though. It’s so unfortunate the church removed it from the building-
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-
I found an article online in the trib regarding Mcclurg Court adding room service for residents of the complex. The article said that no plans have been announced or decided as of yet regarding the fate of the theater.
I echo Cinemark Fan’s sentiments. This place had better not be gutted and turned into stores. I can’t imagine what else they’d do with the space though. What a shame.
Thanks for the update, Cinemark fan. That sucks that no one is cooperating with your plan. How can the realty company not call you back?! It’s not like they’ve been overwhelmed with offers since the theater has been vacant for over 3 years! Judging by the positive responses above, I think Mcclurg could definitely be revived as an art house. It’s a shame how so many unique theaters have been shuttered over the years in favor of multiplexes with small screens, and multiple tiny rooms where you can barely even find a seat especially if you go with a group. I can’t fathom why people would rather pay 10 bucks to sit in environment like that rather than go to a place with a huge screen like Mcclurg and have a real experience.
I hope things turn around for you in your plans to buy this theater. It does concern me though that someone has purchased it since the for lease sign is down. It would indeed be a tragedy if this place became stores or the most popular fate of all the old theaters near where I grew up-a church.
I was in the area this morning, and drove around the block a few times. The For Lease sign is down, and most of the windows are covered in paper. The one window I could see through I saw the poster display cases were still up. The neon bulbs were even still in there. Does anyone know if someone bought this place? I hope it reopens in some form as I never got to see a movie here and it sounds like it was the place to be. Growing up in Oak Park, there were so many theaters nearby (which are mostly gone too like Hillsides, Oak Brook, Bricktown Square, Harlem-Cermak and Forest Park) that we never really ventured downtown to see movies. What happened to one of the above users plans to buy this theater?
Bob,
Was in the area today and you are right. If you didn’t know any better, you’d never know there was a theater there once. The front doors are blocked off and the marquee is down from the front of the building. I went up the stairs around to the other side of the building and there are in fact retail stores there. Not sure if it was always that way, but from the looks of the front they are probably gutting it or just leaving the front of the building alone unoccupied or for storage since the property has been closed for so long. As you said, what a waste. I saw a lot of movies here in college (you just may have sold me a ticket there and at North Riverside and to my parents at Mercury and Forest Park too) and it was a nice place. All these new multiplexes lack character (not to mention adequete space) and moviegoing is no longer an experience anymore as evidenced by all the old theaters closing. I fear the Norridge is the next one to go as I heard rumors Cost Co wants to move in there. They recently tweaked the marquee and things looked a little run down in there when I was in there this week. That and the Lake are the last 2 places left that I saw movies at when I was growing up. Really too bad, thanks for the update though. Glad to see someone feels the way I do about some of thes old places-
Has anyone heard anything about whether this theater is closing or not? I drove by it the other day and saw half the marquee was ripped down. Could be a bad sign. I hope it doesn’t close, it’s one of the few remaining places I went to as a kid.
If the last post is true, another theater I grew up going to bites the dust. I really hoped after years of inactivity, someone would buy it and revive it. Such a shame that another formerly great place to see movies is going to be gutted in favor of generic retail stores that will be gone in a few years anyways. Intersting how some of these places (Oak Brook 1-4, Bricktown Square, Hillside Square, Forest Park Mall) were only open for 10-20 years and closed as quickly as they came-
Yikes. Close call here! I ran across this online on CBS 2’s website, happened just yesterday:
CBS) CHICAGO A fire has broken out at a shuttered movie theater high-rise building in the Streeterville neighborhood north of downtown.
The fire was reported at 330 E. Ohio St., just off Fairbanks Court.
CBS 2’s Rafael Romo reports workers touched a small fire inside of the shuttered McClurg Court Theatres, a former movie multiplex. Fire officials said there were no injuries and the fire was put out quickly with hand pumps.
A still-and-box alarm was called for the fire, along with an EMS Plan 1, which sends five ambulances, according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.
The building is about a block from CBS 2’s studios. Fire vehicles were using Ontario Street right outside CBS 2 as a staging area, and police closed down streets throughout the Streeterville neighborhood.
CBS 2 Producer Dan Kraemer reported from the scene there was a major response from the Fire Department, but the small fire appeared to be out by 12:20 p.m.
Since a fire killed six people in 2003 at the Cook County Administration Building, at 69 W. Washington St., and another fire brought massive damage to the LaSalle Bank Building downtown a year later, the Fire Department routinely sends extra amount of equipment and personnel to high-rise fires or responses to hirise alarms.
The Cook County building fire was the subject of an investigation for more than a year, concentrating in large part on the need for improved responses from the Fire Department for high-rise fires.
CBS 2’s Rafael Romo, Producer Dan Kraemer, and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
Bizarre how a fire could’ve started in an abandoned theater. Luckily doesn’t seem to be any major damage. Cinemark Fan, any new developments in your quest to purchase this theater?
My only vivid memory of this place was seeing Transformers the movie there. I also remember it being shuttered around thetime I started high school and staying vacant for almost 10 years. A ministry purchased the theater space finally and eventually the entire mall. Funny thing is I work as a program screener for one of the stations in town and one of the religous programs we run (Bill Winston) is the very one who bought the theater and the mall. They show the outside of the theater structure at the beginning (it has been radically remodeled inside and out) and though I don’t remember how the theater was laid out, I bet they made all 3 auditoriums into one big one where they hold services. Obviously, it was redecorated inside and all new seating was put in. Anyone wondering how the theater looked on the inside, the closest you can come is by checking out Bill Winston’s show!
I remember seeing The Patriot here weeks before it closed. It was the only showing after 7pm (they were also showing Chicken Run and Thomas the Tank Engine) the box office in the front wasn’t even open, we paid for our tickets at the candy counter. I don’t even think the lights worked in the theater they showed the movie in. I knew the end was definitely near. Sure enough, next time I drove by on 290 it was shuttered. It’d be interesting to see what it looks like on the inside as a church. It’s ironic that there was another theater directly across the expressway and shortly after Hillside Mall closed, so did Hillside Square and it became a church as well. I always thought Hillside Mall was kind of dumpy even when I was a kid. That marquee was so unique though. It’s so unfortunate the church removed it from the building-
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-
I found an article online in the trib regarding Mcclurg Court adding room service for residents of the complex. The article said that no plans have been announced or decided as of yet regarding the fate of the theater.
I echo Cinemark Fan’s sentiments. This place had better not be gutted and turned into stores. I can’t imagine what else they’d do with the space though. What a shame.
Thanks for the update, Cinemark fan. That sucks that no one is cooperating with your plan. How can the realty company not call you back?! It’s not like they’ve been overwhelmed with offers since the theater has been vacant for over 3 years! Judging by the positive responses above, I think Mcclurg could definitely be revived as an art house. It’s a shame how so many unique theaters have been shuttered over the years in favor of multiplexes with small screens, and multiple tiny rooms where you can barely even find a seat especially if you go with a group. I can’t fathom why people would rather pay 10 bucks to sit in environment like that rather than go to a place with a huge screen like Mcclurg and have a real experience.
I hope things turn around for you in your plans to buy this theater. It does concern me though that someone has purchased it since the for lease sign is down. It would indeed be a tragedy if this place became stores or the most popular fate of all the old theaters near where I grew up-a church.
I was in the area this morning, and drove around the block a few times. The For Lease sign is down, and most of the windows are covered in paper. The one window I could see through I saw the poster display cases were still up. The neon bulbs were even still in there. Does anyone know if someone bought this place? I hope it reopens in some form as I never got to see a movie here and it sounds like it was the place to be. Growing up in Oak Park, there were so many theaters nearby (which are mostly gone too like Hillsides, Oak Brook, Bricktown Square, Harlem-Cermak and Forest Park) that we never really ventured downtown to see movies. What happened to one of the above users plans to buy this theater?