Buffalo Grove Theater
120 McHenry Road,
Buffalo Grove,
IL
60089
120 McHenry Road,
Buffalo Grove,
IL
60089
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Barry A. Weinstein
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Buffalo Grove Cinemas
Nearby Theaters
Located at the Town Center shopping center in Buffalo Grove, on McHenry Road, the Buffalo Grove Cinemas opened on November 24, 1995. It was operated by Chicago Area Theatres who at that time also operated the the Wilmette Theatre in Wilmette, and screened family-friendly second-run fare. From the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s, it was part of the Value Theatres chain, still screening second-run but occasionally first-run and independent films too.
From 2009, it came under new independent ownership, for the first time as a first-run theatre. It was closed on March 16, 2020 due to the Covie-19 pandemic. It never reopened and in July 2022 it was demolished together with the rest of the mall.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Don’t worry LongGrovemom, if I ever take over this place, I’ll fire those people. People like them are the reason why people nationwide are staying away from theaters.
Here are photos of this theater.
LongGrovemom, I’ve been going to the BGTheatre for over 15 years. While I agree the place could use a lot of cleaning up, I have never been cheated or treated disrespectfully by staff. A savvy “practicing attorney and …full time marketing consultant and writer” should certainly be intelligent enough to check their change before leaving the window. Especially if it’s their last $10. Sorry you had a bad day and needed to kick the dog. I hope you’re feeling better now.
This is a great second-run theater. They are not too many in the Chicago area now. Saw “Miss Potter” in theater #3, after a few of the theaters had played it and a couple of sneak preview showings in regular theaters and no wide release. On Tuesdays admission, is $1.00 all times and $2.00 all times for the rest of the days.
Photos of this theater are HERE
Did the theatre ever show “Goodfellas”, “Total Recall”, “Casino” or “Boogie Nights”?
It opened November 24 1995, so Goodfellas and Total Recall are out. It might’ve played the others but it was family-focused second run, so I would think it unlikely. It was at first planned as a 4-screen discount second run operated by the Pickwick management. This was supposed to be at the north end of the mall, in a free standing building. The Town Center was envisioned as a sort of downtown for the community when first built in the late 80s, but as it failed to take off, redevelopment was necessary. With the town stepping in, they forced the addition of the theater to raise bonds. The project then passed to Mark Stern of Chicago Area Theaters, the same Stern family with a long history of theaters in Chicago, most notably the Wilmette, Cinema, Devon, and Three Penny. Architect was Barry Weinstein. It shared some interior accents with Marche restaurant in chicago, such as “free-form metal accents in several places. Among the most obvious are the numbers that identify each of the five theaters inside the multi-screen complex.” created by Jerry Kleiner. It also featured handpainted walls and designated rows for birthday parties.
Who owns this theatre these days? Is it independent? Value Theatres certainly didn’t last long.
The theater’s owner has launched a fundraising drive to raise the funds to convert to digital projection; if it fails, the theater may close. View article
This theater closed in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and never reopened. In July 2022, it announced that the strip mall was being demolished and the theater was looking for another location.
Buffalo Grove, IL: Mall Demolition Plans Mark the End of the Buffalo Grove Theater [Jul 18, 2022]