Glenwood Theatre
18255 S. Halsted Street,
Glenwood,
IL
60425
18255 S. Halsted Street,
Glenwood,
IL
60425
4 people
favorited this theater
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this opened on February 18th, 1966. Grand opening ad posted.
Sorry to hear this theater has now been demolished.
My family and I moved to Glenwood from Lansing, Michigan in June 1978 and the first movie I saw at this theater was the original Star Wars (Episode IV – A New Hope) during its first rerelease in 1978. The last film I saw at the Glenwood was Raiders of the Lost Ark when it was rereleased in December 1982; five months later, my family and I moved to New Jersey. (after we moved to Jersey, it was through a movie listing in the Chicago Tribune I read the Glenwood became a quad.
Great demolition photo. On the other hand too bad this theatre couldn’t have been saved. I’ll bet it would have done well as a second run house.
I finally drove by the Glenwood Theatre today; all is down but the foundation. It really looks like it was built very well. What a shame that a better effort was made to update it and keep it going.
As of February 7, 2012, the theater is currently being demolished :(
It’s really sad because my grandfather help build it, and my mother worked there when she was a teenager. Both of them are passed on now, so I’m glad neither had to witness what became of that theater. I added a picture of what it looked like the other day.
As of December 28, 2011 the Glenwood Theatre is still in place; no sign of demolition preparations can be seen from the street.
The owner of record got what sounds like a fair settlement ($480,000 for a very depressed property) but it must have been terribly expensive to operate, and maybe it was highly taxed as well. From this point things should move forward. Sorry about the end of this story; it should have ended better.
Thanks!
I’ll take some photos tonight on my way home and post soon.
I agree, Paul. The building materials and blocky design are similar.
I just had a look at the photos of the Glenwood on the Mekong site. Wow! What an almost late 1950s-1960s vibe this theatre had! It reminds me a LOT of the old Golf Mill. Same archeitects?
Has it been torn down yet?
I drove by the Glenwood Theatre today (September 18, 2011). It has not been demolished nor prepared for same. If anyone knows anything about the status of the Theatre, please report in.
Cam, thanks for the photos! Bob, I agree with your take on the Glenwood Theatre story; why it was so neglected is beyond me, too.
The Google Map takes you to 18900 S Halsted near the Aldi Supermarket. Click on “View Larger Map”, then “Open in Google Maps”, make larger. The Red Dot is in the theaters parking lot and points right at the theater. The theater is really located on W Arquilla Drive (at least thats what it’s called East of Halsted (Route 1), West of Halsted it’s 183rd). You could say it’s at the Northwest corner of Arquilla and W Sunset Road.
Wendy’s is on the corner between Halsted and the theater. Years ago, of course, Wendy’s was not there and it now blocks the view of the theater from Halsted, that couldn’t help business. I can’t remember if the theater parking lot went all the way to Halsted and if it had a sign out by the street. Anyone have more info on this?
It’s a shame Prairie State College didn’t do something with it, they are only 2 miles to the South. If someone would have done something with it they would have got a tax break, it was in a TIF District. A big strip mall is accross the street to the South and most of it is empty, so I don’t know what the rush is to tear it down, nothing will be built on the site.
I went by Wednesday, August 3, 2011 and no signs of demolition yet.
I like that sunken lounge, it had a fireplace.
There are a few pics of the Glenwood, taken in March 2011, in one of the “Lost Palaces” photo sets:
http://www.mekong.net/redirect/glenwood
Anyone have any additional info on the demolition?
KP, I’ve had a hard time trying to follow this story; thanks for the follow-up. Yes, it really is a shame; why didn’t the municipality put the renovation of the theatre on their priority list?
It is with great saddness that I learned over the weekend that this theater will be torn down this month. It has sat vacant for almost 3 years and no one was able to raise this phoenix from the ashes. Breaks my heart. If I had the money I’d have returned it to it’s single screen glory. It was once a beautiful small single screen theater. The most recent “owners” made it into a sh**hole. The last show we saw there was unwatchable due to intolerable heat and very poor quality film and/or equipment. Farewell Glenwood Theater with you peacock blue letters and memories of happy childhood Saturdays.
The Bloomingdale Court (now Picture Show at Bloomingdale), the North Riverside, The Village North (now the New 400), and the Golf Glen (now Big Picture) have all made it out of Village Entertainment. Why can’t someone do something with this theatre? It’d probably be a great 2nd run house.
The Glenwood Theatre is a bit off the beaten path for me, but the last time I drove by it does look deserted. There is no lack of traffic in the area that could attract people into this facility for whatever purpose. Too bad.
The exterior has really taken a beating in the past few months w/ the bad storms. The aqua letters are starting to fall off. Such a shame. This would be a good place for some live events if someone did some clean up on it. The sunken lounge are is nice. I can’t understand how Glenwood has alowed all there entertainment options to fall apart.
Anyway, I think the last movie I saw on the full screen may have been 1994? I’ll have to ask a friend who worked there before Village got their hands on. Really such a waste.
The Glenwood Theatre was opened in 1966, according to Boxoffice of January 16, 1967. The original seating capacity was given as 1000. The number was probably rounded off. I’ve only found the Glenwood briefly mentioned twice in Boxoffice, and no other details about it were ever noted.
Description of the Glenwood Theatre as I knew it: beige everything, touches of woodwork. Somehow it reminded me of someone’s home. There was a space in the front of the theatre where lobby cards promoting the film could be set up. I believe it had a curtain that opened when the feature presentation began.
Yes, the Glenwood Theatre was originally a single-screen movie theatre, and a good one in its time. The last time I was at the Theatre it was was raining and the theatre proved to have quite a serious roof leakage problem, and the ladies' room really needed to be rehabbed. I have not been there for many years principally due to what appears to be ownership issues. I have followed their story over the years – a church wanted to purchase it and there seemed to be some issues over the theatre having a liquor license. As far as I know it was always the Glenwood Theatre and didn’t operate under any names.
I heard this theater is due to reopen in 2010 under new management as first run!