Home Theatre
116 E. Sangamon Avenue,
Rantoul,
IL
61866
116 E. Sangamon Avenue,
Rantoul,
IL
61866
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Are there any interior photos available anywhere?
The Wings twin theatre is located a few blocks south of the Home Theatre, and is also closed. Both were once owned by Kerasotes; the Wings property might actually now belong to AMC as part of the 2010 Kerasotes purchase. The Wings plan was also built in Sullivan, MO.
A book called “Rantoul and Chanute Air Force Base” by Mark D. Hanson says that this house was operating in the 1920s as the Blackstone Theatre. Another house also called the Home Theatre was closed down when the Blackstone was renamed the New Home Theatre. The book doesn’t say when the renaming took place, nor when the “New” was dropped, but a 1942 photo in the book shows the same marquee that is currently on the building.
This is where I saw Star Wars in May of 1977. Rocked my world! I was in the Air Force and me and 4 or 5 other GIs went. Great memories!
Love the old school looking marquee.
Interesting that the other theater in Rantoul was called Wings and was a Kerasotes theater, but apparently did not open until the late 1970s.
The seat count is right. They may have changed the name before the official opening.
Here is an item in Boxoffice magazine, May 1941:
RANTOUL, ILL.-Construction of the new 517-seat Kerasotes theater here is getting underway. The lot has been purchased and the old buildings removed. The theater, 14th in the Kerasotes group, will be named “Wings”, since the U.S. Army’s technical flying school is located in Rantoul. It is expected to be open early in September. J. Fletcher Lankton is the architect.
This place looks great for a theatre closed 30 years, what about the interior?
A 1996 view of the Home Theater in Rantoul here and here. And enlarged views here and here.