Timeline correction: Essaness opened Foxfield as a triplex in December of 1977. Theatre # 3 was a very wide 700-seater, which was split in the 80’s. Foxfield came under the Cineplex-Odeon banner in 1986 when C-O purchased the Chicago-area Essaness locations.
The building in the lower left corner of the 1983 photo is the Douglas 3 Theatre, which was directly across P Street north of the Stuart. Not visible in this photo is the Cinema 1&2, which was on the northwest corner of 12th and P.
The 1983 photo in the link is of the Douglas 3 Theatres, which stood at the northeast corner of 13th and P in downtown Lincoln. That building had retail space under the raised lobby, and Douglas Theatres' corporate office on the floor above the lobby.
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.
The Tivoli / Paramount was my first job as manager for Plitt Theatres in 1976. The Paramount was only open for about a month until the city took it over to convert to a performing arts center. The interior of the Tivoli auditorium had beautiful light window wells in the side walls, but the chandelier was long gone by the time I was there. Until seeing the photo from the glory days, I had no idea that there used to be a vertical sign.
Not only was there a bowling alley underneath (we leaked onto the lanes if we spilled water in the mop closet!), but a ballroom above the lobby. I remember many Saturday evenings when our lobby echoed with the sounds of dancing from the floor above.
One of my funniest memories: a muskrat from the neighboring Fox River got into our outer lobby, and my DM was chasing it around until he got it outside.
This location was a duplicate to its sister theatre, the Marina Twin in Prescott. At some point, one auditorium was split down the middle into two very narrow auditoriums with ridiculously small screens (one of the worst splits I have ever seen!). In 1997, Wehrenberg took out the split, stadium-converted the auditoriums and revamped the lobby, restrooms, and concession stand. This beautiful remodel didn’t stop the inevitable collapse of business when Harkins opened their 11-plex a few blocks away.
I had the privelege to work with Sam Coston and his sons, Nick and Jim, during the late 70’s with Plitt Theatres (Orland Square 1-4). In my 30+ years in this business, Sam is at the top of a short list of the best, a true gentleman. He will be missed.
Timeline correction: Essaness opened Foxfield as a triplex in December of 1977. Theatre # 3 was a very wide 700-seater, which was split in the 80’s. Foxfield came under the Cineplex-Odeon banner in 1986 when C-O purchased the Chicago-area Essaness locations.
The building in the lower left corner of the 1983 photo is the Douglas 3 Theatre, which was directly across P Street north of the Stuart. Not visible in this photo is the Cinema 1&2, which was on the northwest corner of 12th and P.
The 1983 photo in the link is of the Douglas 3 Theatres, which stood at the northeast corner of 13th and P in downtown Lincoln. That building had retail space under the raised lobby, and Douglas Theatres' corporate office on the floor above the lobby.
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.
The Tivoli / Paramount was my first job as manager for Plitt Theatres in 1976. The Paramount was only open for about a month until the city took it over to convert to a performing arts center. The interior of the Tivoli auditorium had beautiful light window wells in the side walls, but the chandelier was long gone by the time I was there. Until seeing the photo from the glory days, I had no idea that there used to be a vertical sign. Not only was there a bowling alley underneath (we leaked onto the lanes if we spilled water in the mop closet!), but a ballroom above the lobby. I remember many Saturday evenings when our lobby echoed with the sounds of dancing from the floor above. One of my funniest memories: a muskrat from the neighboring Fox River got into our outer lobby, and my DM was chasing it around until he got it outside.
This location was a duplicate to its sister theatre, the Marina Twin in Prescott. At some point, one auditorium was split down the middle into two very narrow auditoriums with ridiculously small screens (one of the worst splits I have ever seen!). In 1997, Wehrenberg took out the split, stadium-converted the auditoriums and revamped the lobby, restrooms, and concession stand. This beautiful remodel didn’t stop the inevitable collapse of business when Harkins opened their 11-plex a few blocks away.
I had the privelege to work with Sam Coston and his sons, Nick and Jim, during the late 70’s with Plitt Theatres (Orland Square 1-4). In my 30+ years in this business, Sam is at the top of a short list of the best, a true gentleman. He will be missed.