Alger Brothers Theaters was formed by my dad, E.E. Alger and my uncle, Harold R. Alger. The home office for those and the other theaters was located in LaSalle, Illinois and not ever in Chicago.
The Alger Brothers Theaters was originally formed with one theater, the Albro and shortly after added the Princess in Urbana and Park in Champaign. The Coed was built and owned by The Campus Theater Corp
as an equal partnership between Alger Brothers and a Chicago based company (name escapes me).
After 50 years in the motion theater business, my dad made the decision to close and/or sell all of the theaters he managed which included those in Peru, LaSalle, Spring Valley, Princeton, Mendota, Rochelle, Champaign, Urbana, and Streator; all in Illinois and totalling 13.
My dad was E.E. Alger (he died in 1968). His theater company was based in Peru, Ill at the time he signed a lease to operate the Hub theater and never in Chicago. According to my dad,the building was not built for him; he got involved when the owners of the building faced mortgage foreclosure and came to him for help. He had a long and pleasant relationship with the building owners and residents of Rochelle until he decided to get out of the business in the late 50’s after more than 50 years. I visited the theater occasionally when I got involved in the business.I can’t remember the names of the building owners but I remember the blonde manager named Lindy Castle (or Kassel) and his wife Angie. Also, My mother’s nephew,Ralph Tafflinger was manager before Lindy. Does anyone out there remember any of this? I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can give me some more history.
Bob Alger ()
Alger Brothers Theaters was formed by my dad, E.E. Alger and my uncle, Harold R. Alger. The home office for those and the other theaters was located in LaSalle, Illinois and not ever in Chicago.
The Alger Brothers Theaters was originally formed with one theater, the Albro and shortly after added the Princess in Urbana and Park in Champaign. The Coed was built and owned by The Campus Theater Corp
as an equal partnership between Alger Brothers and a Chicago based company (name escapes me).
After 50 years in the motion theater business, my dad made the decision to close and/or sell all of the theaters he managed which included those in Peru, LaSalle, Spring Valley, Princeton, Mendota, Rochelle, Champaign, Urbana, and Streator; all in Illinois and totalling 13.
Bob Alger ()
My dad was E.E. Alger (he died in 1968). His theater company was based in Peru, Ill at the time he signed a lease to operate the Hub theater and never in Chicago. According to my dad,the building was not built for him; he got involved when the owners of the building faced mortgage foreclosure and came to him for help. He had a long and pleasant relationship with the building owners and residents of Rochelle until he decided to get out of the business in the late 50’s after more than 50 years. I visited the theater occasionally when I got involved in the business.I can’t remember the names of the building owners but I remember the blonde manager named Lindy Castle (or Kassel) and his wife Angie. Also, My mother’s nephew,Ralph Tafflinger was manager before Lindy. Does anyone out there remember any of this? I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can give me some more history.
Bob Alger ()