State Theatre
314 1st Avenue,
Sterling,
IL
61081
314 1st Avenue,
Sterling,
IL
61081
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The Lincoln Theatre was opened in 1924 and closed in 1932. It was reopened as the State Theatre in 1937 and was still open in 1980. It now houses a nightclub named Starlight’s.
Contributed by
Norman Plant
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
This theater was still showing movies in early 1980 (I remember seeing a line outside the theater for a 9 p.m. showing of The Fog).
If you want dates that are a little less guessy, this may be for you. The venue initially opened as the Lincoln Theatre on April 5, 1920 with Crauford Kent in “Other Men’s Shoes.” Great States Theatres Circuit opened the Illini Theatre in 1924 - a move that would all but end the Vaudette and Academy - and took on the Grand and the Lincoln Theatre.
Great States had a plan on the table to remodel the Grand at $15,000 likely with sound and opted, instead, to lease it in March of 1928 where it was converted to a ballroom ending its run. That reduced Sterling to the Illini and Lincoln. Both were equipped with sound.
Great States dropped the Lincoln closing for the summer in June of 1930. The five theater town was down to just one operating venue in the Depression. However, a new operator reopened after three closed summers on September 2, 1932. That was not a success.
But the Lincoln proved to be a survivor and reopened under new management on November 10, 1934 as the State Theatre with “King Priest.” That included a new exterior that had a streamline look. It converted to widescreen to present CinemaScope titles.
In 1978, it was refurbished one last time rebooting as the First Avenue Cinema. In 1979, it transitioned to the Teatro Cinema showing Spanish language films apparently on a sublease. In its final stretch as the Cinema Theater, Kerasotes ended things with a “Silver Bullet” on October 29, 1985.