Great post, Twistr54. Thanks. Didn’t know Jense Nelson was the original manager for Mr McCullom. I did know he was the owner in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Does that book say anything about the Kaye Theater in Clinton? It was a much smaller movie house about a half block from the Clintonia. There was also an “opera house” in Clinton – the building is still in use in the business district.
Here is that picture from the Pantagraph Newspaper showing the Clintonia marquee just before it was demolished. This is a great shot because everyone who went to the Clintonia as a kid will remember these ladies. I especially remember the one who worked the snack bar. :P
The caption under the picture is:
Former employees of Clintonia Theater stand before marquee of soon to be demolished building. Left: Rose Houchin, cashier and office worker, right: Opel Skeens, snack bar worker. March 1989
I also saw “The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm” at the McVickers Theater. I remember sitting way up in the balcony and still being engulfed by the screen – it seemed so huge at age 9 or 10. I also remember the sound being so good that NOTHING came close to it until digital surround in the 90’s â€" seriously!! The animated dragon in one of the fairy tale dramatizations was so good as a special effect, to my memory, that nothing compared until “Star Warsâ€. I had thought I was there in October of 1963, but could be it was 62. My birthday was that weekend and my family was in Chicago so my father could help plan a judges convention. We stayed at another long-gone Chicago landmark – The Hotel Sherman House (replaced by the Illinois building in the 70’s or 80’s). That weekend I say Henny Youngman at the College Inn Porterhouse at the Hotel Sherman (where Don McNeil’s breakfast club originate on WLS radio), saw Cinerama for the first and only time at McVickers and also saw a Dean Martin “Matt Helm” movie at the Chicago Theater (why did my parents take me to that horrid movie with near nudity? – oh, yeah, to see the Chicago Theater), and visited the Museum of Science and Industry for the first time. A great birthday weekend. I fell in love with Cinerama and the Museum of Science and Industry. Somewhere my mom still has the soundtrack album for “The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm” with the souvenir book on Cinerama. I can still remember the theme music for the movie â€" it was quite good.
The Clinton Outdoor Theater was owned by Jense Nelson when I was growing up in Clinton. He also owned and operated the Clintonia Theater in town ( /theaters/11552/ ). It was built and owned originally by the builders and owners of the Clintonia, the McCullom family from Hoopston, IL, who also owned the Lorraine theater there ( /theaters/780/ , http://www.lorrainetheater.com/ ). Seen many movies there, including in 1970, Midnight Cowboy. Midnight Cowboy, being rated X back then would not have shown at the Clintonia, only at the drive-in, even though it won the Best Picture Oscar.
Hi to Nick. I, too, grew up watching movies at the Clintonia. I have many memories there including live community theater shows and the Kiwanis Club’s weekly “Travelogue†series back in the 60’s. I even served as projectionist for one of those. Nick is correct that the Lorraine Theater in Hoopston, Il was a sister theater to the Clintonia. They were both built by A.B. McCollum. My mother and father grew up in Hoopston and knew the McCollum family. The McCulloms were family friends of my mother’s family. My grandfather’s Ford dealership was located next door to the Lorraine and Mr. McCullom bought his Lincolns from my grandfather. Incidentally, according to my mother, Betty Calvin, the Lorraine was named after the McCollums' daughter and she thinks the Clintonia, built after the Lorraine, was planned to be named after their second daughter originally. Nick is also right about the fate of the Clintonia. On March 29, 1989, according to the Clinton newspaper, the west side wall of the theater caved in just minutes before show time and, thankfully before any movie-goers had entered the auditorium. I spoke with one of the editors at the Clinton Daily Journal newspaper and he remembers the city gave the owner a few months to try to rebuild the side wall, but he was unable to. I saw the Clintonia a few days after it caved in and the whole west wall and roof from just in front of the balcony up to just in front of the stage and screen was laying on the auditorium floor. It was a sad sight.
I remember the decor being in the art deco/art modern style with curving staircases on either side of the lobby going to the second floor balcony lobby, which was larger than the main lobby. The balcony lobby had murals with scantily clad women and the access to the balcony was what I have heard called Grand Stand seating – you went through a hallway or tunnel to the base of the balcony. The main level of the auditorium was not like that. Looking at the Lorraine Theater interior photos on their website, there are definite similarities in design. The entry doors and box office to the Lorraine look nearly identical to the Clintonia’s. Also, there was an “outer” lobby or foyer that you passed through from the front doors to a second set of doors into the lobby. The interior photo of the Lorraine lobby looking outward on their website looks almost identical to the Clintonia. There are similarities to the auditorium decor to the Lorraine, also. When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s the colors in the Clintonia were obviously faded or dirty looking – kind of grey. But it was definitely art deco/art modern. I remember the men’s restroom on the first level had the only black toilets and sinks I have ever seen – kind of creeped me out as a kid. Like the Lorraine it had a functional stage with a flyaway for multiple backdrops and the screen and huge RCA sectoral horn and bass horn speaker could be raised for live performances. I was involved in community theater there and we once used the pulley and counterweight for the speaker for a very large set of a ocean liner deck for “Anything Goes” to raise and lower it. During one performance the cable came off the pulley and I remember the director, a local Presbeterian pastor, and one of my high school friends climbing up on the catwalks to get it back on the pully. The dressing rooms were in the basement under the stage area. I still have a recording of one of my friends (David Moss, now an attorney in Clinton) singing “You are Sixteen Going on Seventeen” from our live production of “The Sound of Music” recorded in the Clintonia. I remember the acoustics of the auditorium were quite good â€" good for live performances.
The Lorraine and Clintonia had a loose connection even after the McCulloms sold them. The Clintonia was owned and operated by Jense Nelson and the Lorraine was owned and operated by his brother Art Nelson. After Jense Nelson, Merle Waggoner owned the Clintonia for about 20 years. I don’t know the name of the last owner.
I have a picture of the front of the Clintonia with a great shot of the marquee and two ladies who worked at the Clintonia for years in the box office and the concession stand. It is from the Bloomington Pantagraph newspaper and I will send it or post it somewhere. I am also working on getting other photos of the theater, if I can find them. The Clinton library had only the one from the Pantagraph. Also, there was at least one, possibly two, other movie theaters in Clinton. One was called the Kaye. I don’t remember it ever being open during my childhood, but my mother says she attended shows there in the early 50’s. It was half a block from the Clintonia but was much smaller. I remember when they tore it down for a carwash. The stage and most of the auditorium was demolished first and left in that state for quite a while before the lobby and balcony and projection booth were demolished. I think that was about 8th grade for me – 1967, and I remember wandering around in the rubble of the auditorium. I was fascinated with old theaters even back then.
Great post, Twistr54. Thanks. Didn’t know Jense Nelson was the original manager for Mr McCullom. I did know he was the owner in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Does that book say anything about the Kaye Theater in Clinton? It was a much smaller movie house about a half block from the Clintonia. There was also an “opera house” in Clinton – the building is still in use in the business district.
Here is that picture from the Pantagraph Newspaper showing the Clintonia marquee just before it was demolished. This is a great shot because everyone who went to the Clintonia as a kid will remember these ladies. I especially remember the one who worked the snack bar. :P
The caption under the picture is:
Former employees of Clintonia Theater stand before marquee of soon to be demolished building. Left: Rose Houchin, cashier and office worker, right: Opel Skeens, snack bar worker. March 1989
I also saw “The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm” at the McVickers Theater. I remember sitting way up in the balcony and still being engulfed by the screen – it seemed so huge at age 9 or 10. I also remember the sound being so good that NOTHING came close to it until digital surround in the 90’s â€" seriously!! The animated dragon in one of the fairy tale dramatizations was so good as a special effect, to my memory, that nothing compared until “Star Warsâ€. I had thought I was there in October of 1963, but could be it was 62. My birthday was that weekend and my family was in Chicago so my father could help plan a judges convention. We stayed at another long-gone Chicago landmark – The Hotel Sherman House (replaced by the Illinois building in the 70’s or 80’s). That weekend I say Henny Youngman at the College Inn Porterhouse at the Hotel Sherman (where Don McNeil’s breakfast club originate on WLS radio), saw Cinerama for the first and only time at McVickers and also saw a Dean Martin “Matt Helm” movie at the Chicago Theater (why did my parents take me to that horrid movie with near nudity? – oh, yeah, to see the Chicago Theater), and visited the Museum of Science and Industry for the first time. A great birthday weekend. I fell in love with Cinerama and the Museum of Science and Industry. Somewhere my mom still has the soundtrack album for “The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm” with the souvenir book on Cinerama. I can still remember the theme music for the movie â€" it was quite good.
Correction on the date of the Clintonia wall collapse – it was March 21, 1989.
The Clinton Outdoor Theater was owned by Jense Nelson when I was growing up in Clinton. He also owned and operated the Clintonia Theater in town ( /theaters/11552/ ). It was built and owned originally by the builders and owners of the Clintonia, the McCullom family from Hoopston, IL, who also owned the Lorraine theater there ( /theaters/780/ , http://www.lorrainetheater.com/ ). Seen many movies there, including in 1970, Midnight Cowboy. Midnight Cowboy, being rated X back then would not have shown at the Clintonia, only at the drive-in, even though it won the Best Picture Oscar.
Hi to Nick. I, too, grew up watching movies at the Clintonia. I have many memories there including live community theater shows and the Kiwanis Club’s weekly “Travelogue†series back in the 60’s. I even served as projectionist for one of those. Nick is correct that the Lorraine Theater in Hoopston, Il was a sister theater to the Clintonia. They were both built by A.B. McCollum. My mother and father grew up in Hoopston and knew the McCollum family. The McCulloms were family friends of my mother’s family. My grandfather’s Ford dealership was located next door to the Lorraine and Mr. McCullom bought his Lincolns from my grandfather. Incidentally, according to my mother, Betty Calvin, the Lorraine was named after the McCollums' daughter and she thinks the Clintonia, built after the Lorraine, was planned to be named after their second daughter originally. Nick is also right about the fate of the Clintonia. On March 29, 1989, according to the Clinton newspaper, the west side wall of the theater caved in just minutes before show time and, thankfully before any movie-goers had entered the auditorium. I spoke with one of the editors at the Clinton Daily Journal newspaper and he remembers the city gave the owner a few months to try to rebuild the side wall, but he was unable to. I saw the Clintonia a few days after it caved in and the whole west wall and roof from just in front of the balcony up to just in front of the stage and screen was laying on the auditorium floor. It was a sad sight.
I remember the decor being in the art deco/art modern style with curving staircases on either side of the lobby going to the second floor balcony lobby, which was larger than the main lobby. The balcony lobby had murals with scantily clad women and the access to the balcony was what I have heard called Grand Stand seating – you went through a hallway or tunnel to the base of the balcony. The main level of the auditorium was not like that. Looking at the Lorraine Theater interior photos on their website, there are definite similarities in design. The entry doors and box office to the Lorraine look nearly identical to the Clintonia’s. Also, there was an “outer” lobby or foyer that you passed through from the front doors to a second set of doors into the lobby. The interior photo of the Lorraine lobby looking outward on their website looks almost identical to the Clintonia. There are similarities to the auditorium decor to the Lorraine, also. When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s the colors in the Clintonia were obviously faded or dirty looking – kind of grey. But it was definitely art deco/art modern. I remember the men’s restroom on the first level had the only black toilets and sinks I have ever seen – kind of creeped me out as a kid. Like the Lorraine it had a functional stage with a flyaway for multiple backdrops and the screen and huge RCA sectoral horn and bass horn speaker could be raised for live performances. I was involved in community theater there and we once used the pulley and counterweight for the speaker for a very large set of a ocean liner deck for “Anything Goes” to raise and lower it. During one performance the cable came off the pulley and I remember the director, a local Presbeterian pastor, and one of my high school friends climbing up on the catwalks to get it back on the pully. The dressing rooms were in the basement under the stage area. I still have a recording of one of my friends (David Moss, now an attorney in Clinton) singing “You are Sixteen Going on Seventeen” from our live production of “The Sound of Music” recorded in the Clintonia. I remember the acoustics of the auditorium were quite good â€" good for live performances.
The Lorraine and Clintonia had a loose connection even after the McCulloms sold them. The Clintonia was owned and operated by Jense Nelson and the Lorraine was owned and operated by his brother Art Nelson. After Jense Nelson, Merle Waggoner owned the Clintonia for about 20 years. I don’t know the name of the last owner.
I have a picture of the front of the Clintonia with a great shot of the marquee and two ladies who worked at the Clintonia for years in the box office and the concession stand. It is from the Bloomington Pantagraph newspaper and I will send it or post it somewhere. I am also working on getting other photos of the theater, if I can find them. The Clinton library had only the one from the Pantagraph. Also, there was at least one, possibly two, other movie theaters in Clinton. One was called the Kaye. I don’t remember it ever being open during my childhood, but my mother says she attended shows there in the early 50’s. It was half a block from the Clintonia but was much smaller. I remember when they tore it down for a carwash. The stage and most of the auditorium was demolished first and left in that state for quite a while before the lobby and balcony and projection booth were demolished. I think that was about 8th grade for me – 1967, and I remember wandering around in the rubble of the auditorium. I was fascinated with old theaters even back then.