It may be that the North Riverside might be the only one to make it alive out of Village Theatre’s clutches. It appears that the Glenwood is closed and the Village North/Visionary is now closed too (the phone number doesn’t work). I’m not sure how the Bloomingdale is doing as a FunAsia.
Rumors have been circulating about the Golf Glen. I’ve heard that Pheonix Theatres wants to re-open it as a 2nd-run house and that Adlabs wants to make it a Bollywood Cinema. Although the GG was the last theatre Essaness theatre built, it was remodeled into C-O decor and it retained that until Village closed it three years ago.
So sad that this theatre closed. I always thought it had potential. It was miles from any other cinema. It potentially had good parking (if the lot had ever been repaved and the dispute with the Metropolitan Water District could have been resolved). It’s near a renovated shopping center. The Home Depot across the street could have provided more visibility to the place. The archeitecture of the place was certainly interesting, even if not well-executed.
Renovations, the right movies, and a management that cared could have gone a long way in the success of this place. Unfortunately, the management of the Lincoln Village, be they Loews-Cineplex, AMC, or Village, seemed intent on running it into the ground.
It looks like the North Riverside may actually be the only cinema ever to make it out of Village Theatres/Entertainment (whatever!) alive! It appears that the Visionary (ex Village North, exx 400 Twin, exxx 400) is closed as are the Lincoln Village and the Glenwood (their telephone numbers are all disconnected). Although the Bloomingdale Court is now a FunAsia Theatre and rumors have been bandied about concerning the Golf Glen re-opening as a bargain house.
Uh, I think they have closed. I tried calling their phone number and a recording is saying that it cannot receive calls at this time. Also, Yahoo Movies is showing nothing for tomorrow.
Much of this area had been hit hard by the June, 2008 floods. The nearby Mid-Contintent Railway Museum was closed by the floods and which each passing day, it gets more and more doubtful that it will ever re-open.
Much of this area had been hit hard by the June, 2008 floods. The nearby Mid-Contintent Railway Museum was closed by the floods and which each passing day, it gets more and more doubtful that it will ever re-open.
A generic looking theatre if I’ve ever seen one! I haven’t actually seen a movie here, but a major Amtrak route goes past this theatre and I’ve seen it many times.
It is a shame. I think that there is still a demand for 2nd run houses. I think that the LaGrange is being mis-managed or something. And the botched renovation job on that theatre can’t be helping. Everytime I’ve been to the LaGrange, there has always been a decent sized crowd and they play a surprisingly good mix of movies.
But back to the Harlem Corners. It was once part of a chain called “Value Theatres” which included the Northgate, the Buffalo Grove, the Morton Grove, and a few others. Only the Buffalo Grove remains. The Northgate failed after an unsuccessful attempt to go first-run. The Morton Grove went out of business because the strip-mall owners decided that they could make more money with additional retail (A Shoe Carnival eventually went into the MG’s building and at best only one or two cars would be in the parking lot).
I was in the Denis only once and that was to see “Home Alone”. Seriously, it was about THE most cramped theatre I was ever in! A horrible chop-job if you ask me.
I worked at Northway Mall very briefly circa 1991. 17 years ago, the theatre did quite well. I believe it was a second-run house by then. What caused the theatre to close?
That is surprising because I think that in the Chicagoland Area, Kerasotes seems to be doing well. They bought the Webster Place from AMC and sunk a boatload of money into it. The Webster Place is once again a good theatre to see a show in. Loews and AMC had both run it into the ground.
I went past this place recently. Other than the marquee, there is little evidence that this was a cinema. And the marquee appears to be used for public service announcements.
Per Catherine’s comment above, I wonder why an “art house” would not be successful in the Gold Coast neighborhood. It would seem like the right area for it. The 900 North, the Carnegie, the Cinema, the Esquire, and the Water Tower all tried their hands at it at one time or another.
Has anybody been to this theatre since Village took it over. The only time I was ever in here was to see the Bond flick “Tomorrow Never Dies”. The theatre was only about 7 years old at the time, but was NOT well-run.
Cinemark Fan,
It may be that the North Riverside might be the only one to make it alive out of Village Theatre’s clutches. It appears that the Glenwood is closed and the Village North/Visionary is now closed too (the phone number doesn’t work). I’m not sure how the Bloomingdale is doing as a FunAsia.
Rumors have been circulating about the Golf Glen. I’ve heard that Pheonix Theatres wants to re-open it as a 2nd-run house and that Adlabs wants to make it a Bollywood Cinema. Although the GG was the last theatre Essaness theatre built, it was remodeled into C-O decor and it retained that until Village closed it three years ago.
So sad that this theatre closed. I always thought it had potential. It was miles from any other cinema. It potentially had good parking (if the lot had ever been repaved and the dispute with the Metropolitan Water District could have been resolved). It’s near a renovated shopping center. The Home Depot across the street could have provided more visibility to the place. The archeitecture of the place was certainly interesting, even if not well-executed.
Renovations, the right movies, and a management that cared could have gone a long way in the success of this place. Unfortunately, the management of the Lincoln Village, be they Loews-Cineplex, AMC, or Village, seemed intent on running it into the ground.
It looks like the North Riverside may actually be the only cinema ever to make it out of Village Theatres/Entertainment (whatever!) alive! It appears that the Visionary (ex Village North, exx 400 Twin, exxx 400) is closed as are the Lincoln Village and the Glenwood (their telephone numbers are all disconnected). Although the Bloomingdale Court is now a FunAsia Theatre and rumors have been bandied about concerning the Golf Glen re-opening as a bargain house.
It must be closed now. The phone number is disconnected.
Uh, I think they have closed. I tried calling their phone number and a recording is saying that it cannot receive calls at this time. Also, Yahoo Movies is showing nothing for tomorrow.
Barnes and Noble is in the same building.
If I remember clearly, this theatre was once a Plitt.
When you call their phone #, the recording says “Visionary Theatre formerly the Village North”.
I wonder who owns it and operates it. Is it independent?
Robin,
I think it is official. The Fandango website is now showing it as “Visionary Theatres” View link
So the name of this theatre should be “Visionary Theatres”.
Much of this area had been hit hard by the June, 2008 floods. The nearby Mid-Contintent Railway Museum was closed by the floods and which each passing day, it gets more and more doubtful that it will ever re-open.
Much of this area had been hit hard by the June, 2008 floods. The nearby Mid-Contintent Railway Museum was closed by the floods and which each passing day, it gets more and more doubtful that it will ever re-open.
A generic looking theatre if I’ve ever seen one! I haven’t actually seen a movie here, but a major Amtrak route goes past this theatre and I’ve seen it many times.
The sign on Lagrange Road is for AMC.
It is a shame. I think that there is still a demand for 2nd run houses. I think that the LaGrange is being mis-managed or something. And the botched renovation job on that theatre can’t be helping. Everytime I’ve been to the LaGrange, there has always been a decent sized crowd and they play a surprisingly good mix of movies.
But back to the Harlem Corners. It was once part of a chain called “Value Theatres” which included the Northgate, the Buffalo Grove, the Morton Grove, and a few others. Only the Buffalo Grove remains. The Northgate failed after an unsuccessful attempt to go first-run. The Morton Grove went out of business because the strip-mall owners decided that they could make more money with additional retail (A Shoe Carnival eventually went into the MG’s building and at best only one or two cars would be in the parking lot).
I think I was only in this theatre once. I saw the really bad “Loaded Weapon 1” here. That was circ 1992, so it still must have been a Cinema World.
Susan,
I was in the Denis only once and that was to see “Home Alone”. Seriously, it was about THE most cramped theatre I was ever in! A horrible chop-job if you ask me.
I worked at Northway Mall very briefly circa 1991. 17 years ago, the theatre did quite well. I believe it was a second-run house by then. What caused the theatre to close?
Big Red,
That is surprising because I think that in the Chicagoland Area, Kerasotes seems to be doing well. They bought the Webster Place from AMC and sunk a boatload of money into it. The Webster Place is once again a good theatre to see a show in. Loews and AMC had both run it into the ground.
Here is a fascinating website with many photographs and paintings
View link
I went past this place recently. Other than the marquee, there is little evidence that this was a cinema. And the marquee appears to be used for public service announcements.
The website is now http://www.lansingcinema8.com/
One thing that hurt it was, as Cinemark Fan said, lack of advertising. It was advertised only half-assed, under the full ad for the Lansing.
Per Catherine’s comment above, I wonder why an “art house” would not be successful in the Gold Coast neighborhood. It would seem like the right area for it. The 900 North, the Carnegie, the Cinema, the Esquire, and the Water Tower all tried their hands at it at one time or another.
Has anybody been to this theatre since Village took it over. The only time I was ever in here was to see the Bond flick “Tomorrow Never Dies”. The theatre was only about 7 years old at the time, but was NOT well-run.