Heart Theatre
133 E. Jefferson Avenue,
Effingham,
IL
62401
133 E. Jefferson Avenue,
Effingham,
IL
62401
11 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Heart Theatre (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Frisina Amusement Company
Architects: Charles Dawson, Carl T. Meyer
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Feb 2, 2007 — Heart Theatre returns
An early example of adaptive reuse of an existing structure, the Heart Theatre was built inside what had formerly been a garage and opened in 1941.
The theatre originally contained 750 seats, but this number was downsized to 500 by Frisina Amusement Co. in the 1970’s.
The theatre closed around 2002, reopened in 2003 and was closed again in 2007. In summer of 2022 it was purchased by a former Effingham resident who plans to donate the theatre to a non-profit for the benefit of the community.
Contributed by
Paul Salley, Colby Higgs
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Recent comments (view all 50 comments)
What I read online the reason the deal fell through was when the building was inspected by an building inspector for the buyer. Mold was found in the building. The inside of the theater would had to be gutted & rebuilt before the theater could be reopen. The seller had the possible buyers believing the theater building would be a turn key operation. The buyer who pulled out believed untill the building inspector gave her the bad news about the building. There wouldn’t be much worked involved before reopening the theater. So who ever buys the theater will have to plan on spending a large amount of money in redoing the theater besides the price they paid for the
building.
Nice photos of the Heart Theatre.
Nice theatre,I hate small marquees on theatres.
I looked at the recent photos and was wondering if the pieces that were missing are vitrolite or terra cotta? I was by there in the Spring of ‘09 and it can’t remeber.Any other news on it?
Does anyone know who to contact about buying this cinema?
Travis518, if you’re still interested, contact Jeff Speer at the Effingham Remax office or one of his staff, they can probably give you the pertinent information. I’m a local photographer.
I was in Effingham to photograph the Heart Theater this past Summer and just got around to editing and posting my photos of her. Here’s a photo of the whole facade. You can see the rest of my shots adjacent to this one in my photostream.
Heart Theatre Facade
Contact the Theatre Historical Society.
Looks pretty sad these days, but mostly still there in all its glory…
Here’s the new website for The Heart Theatre in Effinghma. The Gallery includes recent photos of the interior.