A few short comments about the Will Rogers Theater: I didn’t come to Charleston, Illinois until later in adulthood but my family lives in a historical neighborhood within easy walking distance of The Square where the Will Rogers is located (just off). We thoroughly enjoyed walking from home down to Roc’s, a historical bar and BBQ joint on The Square for BBQ with a colorful history, then after dinner walking on down to Will Rogers for a movie. A delightful way to spend an evening. We always found the Will Rogers to be clean and comfortable but with an increasingly “neglected” look as time went on. Current movies were shown there at reduced rates, a great bargain. Then AMC bought it from Kerasotes and pretty quickly closed it. Last year the local newspaper reported that a couple had bought it with intentions of renovating/restoring it. They brought in a huge dumpster and there seemed to be some kind of work going on. Then the dumpster disappeared, work stopped and no further word on when or what is happening there for going on a year now. Final comment is that AMC was bought out last year by a Chinese group who bought up all the American AMC theaters. So the major movie theater chain in the U.S. is now China-owned.
A few short comments about the Will Rogers Theater: I didn’t come to Charleston, Illinois until later in adulthood but my family lives in a historical neighborhood within easy walking distance of The Square where the Will Rogers is located (just off). We thoroughly enjoyed walking from home down to Roc’s, a historical bar and BBQ joint on The Square for BBQ with a colorful history, then after dinner walking on down to Will Rogers for a movie. A delightful way to spend an evening. We always found the Will Rogers to be clean and comfortable but with an increasingly “neglected” look as time went on. Current movies were shown there at reduced rates, a great bargain. Then AMC bought it from Kerasotes and pretty quickly closed it. Last year the local newspaper reported that a couple had bought it with intentions of renovating/restoring it. They brought in a huge dumpster and there seemed to be some kind of work going on. Then the dumpster disappeared, work stopped and no further word on when or what is happening there for going on a year now. Final comment is that AMC was bought out last year by a Chinese group who bought up all the American AMC theaters. So the major movie theater chain in the U.S. is now China-owned.