Grand Air Dome
100 E. Main Sreet,
Oakland,
IL
61943
100 E. Main Sreet,
Oakland,
IL
61943
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This theatre appears on the 1916 Sanborn, on a corner which previously was the site of a small blacksmith shop.
Despite the name, this was an extremely basic affair, just a fenced lot with a small shack serving as the ticket booth. It is unknown when it closed, but it was surely many years ago when it was demolished. The corner today is used as parking for farm equipment, likely associated with a prefab shed at the rear of the lot.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
A Grand Theatre (airdome not mentioned) is one of three movie houses listed at Oakland in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The November 18, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World also mentions the Grand: “Oakland, Ill.—H. R. Barricklaw, a former exhibitor here, has purchased the Grand Theater.”
It’s possible that there was also an indoor Grand Theatre, as a house of that name with 250 seats is the only theater listed at Oakland in the 1926 through 1929 FDYs. Oakland vanishes from the year book from 1930 through 1933, with the exception of 1932 when the Grand is listed again, but as a silent house which is closed. The 150-seat Oakland Theatre appears in the 1934 edition. If there was an indoor Grand it’s possible that it was downsized and re-opened as the Oakland sometime in 1933.
That all makes sense. The indoor Grand may even have been built here to replace this, and then become the Oakland. Or it may have been in the block to the west of this.