Roxy Theater
224 E. Main Street,
West Frankfort,
IL
62896
224 E. Main Street,
West Frankfort,
IL
62896
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox Midwest Theatres
Functions: Office Space
Previous Names: Rex Theater
Nearby Theaters
The Rex Theater was opened by September 1914. Roxy Theater was opened on the site of the Rex Theater in 1950 and closed on January 5, 1956.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
226 E. Main is currently a law office.
If it’s closed and not demolished, I think so. I didn’t see any other lawyers in that building, so he may have the whole thing.
I saw some parade photos from last year going down the 100 block of E. Main towards the 200 block, but the photographer was on the even side of the street, so all the photos showed odd street numbers.
As I remember, it didn’t last too long. Opened in about 1950 with Bing Crosby in “Ichabod and Mr. Toad.” I never saw a movie there, and many people I knew complained about the size and the ceiling being low.
This theater was first known as the REX Theater. It was operated by a retired Pharmacist, Mr. Harmon Kinison, prior to it becoming the Roxy theater. I have attached a photograph of the REX THEATER For you perusal as well as the obituary for Mr. Kinison. I am not sure that the building someone else posted is the address that the Roxy and Rex Theaters were located, but can verify that information and get back on that validity as well.
“WEST FRANKFORT, ILL. – The Roxy Theatre, 500-seat unit of the Fox Midwest Theatres circuit, has been closed indefinitely. Since January 5, the house had been operating on a ‘family’ basis with subsequent run product.” —BoxOffice, Feb. 4, 1956
If the 226 address is accurate, the Rex aka is wrong. The Rex was in the one story building at 224. The Rex is shown on the September 1914 Sanborn with a note: ‘To Be Motion Pictures’. It remains in operation on the 1928 map. Either it closed permanently and the Roxy opened at 226, or we have the wrong address for the Roxy, and that was a brief reopening. I can’t understand people complaining that the Rex building was small since it obviously has a much higher ceiling than 226, so I suspect these are different theaters.
The October 22, 1949 issue of Boxoffice said that the 500-seat Roxy Theatre, being built at West Frankfort for the Fox Midwest circuit, was slated to open Thanksgiving Day. The item said the house was at the site of the old Rex Theatre, and construction had begun in May, 1948, after the building’s previous tenants had vacated.