Roxy Theatre
118 First Street,
Mounds,
IL
62964
118 First Street,
Mounds,
IL
62964
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Egyptian Theatre
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The Egyptian Theatre was opened in the 1920’s and was renamed Roxy Theatre in 1932. It was closed in the 1960’s.
It was demolished to build a new fire station for Mounds Fire Department.
Contributed by
Bob Brown
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
You can see a photo of the Roxy at the link below. Scroll down to the second photo on the page. Though I am not sure of the exact date of the photo, the movie on the marquee, ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND, was released in 1938.
http://members.cox.net/betachi/Vintage1.html
The theatre was not torn down, but turned into the Mounds Fire Dept (of which I am a member.) Its address is 118 First St. Mounds, Il 62964
What an interesting conversion of a space.
How long was the Roxy vacant before the conversion?
Is there any visual evidence still intact from it’s Roxy days?
Was the front or rear of the theatre reconfigured to accomodate fire trucks?
I guess yelling fire in a theatre is a common thing there.
It’s fitting that this theater should have been converted into the fire department. It was built to replace an earlier Roxy Theatre, which had burned on February 1, 1938. The original Roxy was a single floor house with 425 seats, according to the February 26, 1938, Boxoffice item about the project, and the rebuilt Roxy would seat approximately 800, including balcony seating. The architect of the rebuilt Roxy was Oliver W. Stiegemeyer.
The original Roxy bore the name before 1932. It was mentioned in The Exhibitor’s Forum, issue of October 13, 1931.
I’m confused. The street view of the address listed above shows nothing that resembles bbrown1’s link nor anything that resembles a firehouse. Sadly, looking up and down main street, there don’t seem to be many buildings that aren’t boarded up.
If you look 2 blocks down the street to the fire department building, the alley side of the structure definitely appears to have been a theater at one time. Must be an address issue with Google.
The Mounds City Hall-Fire Station are on the same lot as the Roxy but not the same structure. The Roxy was torn down in the late 60’s and the fire station moved from the 100 block of north oak to it’s present location in the early 70’s. I know this because my father was mayor of Mounds in the early 70’s and it was that council that secured the $ to build a new fire station.
The only theatres listed in Mounds in 1926 was the Grand, Owega and the Central. No Roxy or Egyptian.