Regal Webster Place 11

Looking at the showtimes for this Friday, it looks like cinemas 9 thru 11 will reopen, making all 11 screens fully operational.

Cinemark Fan,

I was here tonight to see DAN IN REAL LIFE. Here’s the what the theatre is like. The box office has been moved to the indoors, upper level, atop the escalators. On the one hand, it means that patrons purchasing tickets will not have to wait outdoors in the cold. On the other hand, it’s in the same area as the concession stands, so that could lead to congestion.

The auditoriums have been re-done into a red/blue scheme. The seats are much improved. They are similar to those found at the 600 North Cinema. Unfortunately, the place was not built for stadium seating, so it will never have that. New carpet has been placed in the main hallway. The hallway has been re-done with nice wall sconces. The entrance to the ladies restroom has been moved to the hallway too.

The concession area has been re-designed for better customer flow, but I’m still curious if it won’t get overcrowded with the box office being there now.

The renovations are nothing groundbreaking, but the Webster Place is now much improved over what it was before.

BW

There may be even fewer traces of M&R soon. I was at a party Saturday Night and a man who is a Norridge police officer said that plans are definitely afoot to replace the Norridge with a Costco. He said that the Cinemark in Melrose Park took away a lot of business.

He did mention, however, that there may be plans to build a new theatre in the area of the Harlem-Irving Plaza (HIP).

Life’s Too Short,

I think that the Webster was due for a renovation. And if Kerasotes promotes it properly (which they undoubtedly will), people will come back. The Webster Place is an extremely popular place. And there are a few bars, the strip mall, etc., so it’s not like that the place is in the middle of nowhere.

BW,

There was still a good crowd for the movie I was seeing. I didn’t mean to imply that the place was a total masoleum! I think that remaining partially open will keep the WP in the public eye!

Don’t forget, the LaGrange has been renovating for a few years now and it still does well.

I’m gonna miss the decoration in auditoriums 1-8, along with the purple velvet rocking chairs. sighs

Well, hopefully the new interior will look like Showplace 12 @ Golf Mill, but better. And keep the screens big like they are.

Oh, Webster Place opened as a M&R 8 screener on 7/22/88. I’ll post some stuff from the ad tomorrow.

I was here tonight for a movie. Currently only 2 or 3 auditoriums are being used. The rest of the place has been totally stripped to the bare walls. The 3 screens that were added later to the building, #s 9-11, are the ones in use. Nothing remains in the original 8 auditoriums. Even the concession stand has been taken out.

Normally, this place is busy on a Saturday Night. It was weird, almost surreal, to be here and have the place seem so empty. The Webster Place has been around since the late 80s, yet would always draw huge crowds on weekends.

Goodbye 1988 look, hello with the Kerasotes design.

That’s good news. I like this place.

do you know how many “Millions” have been guided in hollywood films in the last 20 years from this location?

keep the theatre and renovate periodically, quite obviously

the real thomas :) :) :) :)

Catherine:

The #9 Ashland stops a few blocks away on Ashland & Clybourn. After I get off the bus there, I eat at the Wendy’s across the street before I walk to the theater. Of course, I haven’t been here in a while. I’ll have to see how Kerasotes is running things.

PS: You’re almost 6ft tall? Wow, that’s cool.

I went to the Webster Place this past weekend with a friend to see “Breach”. It was good to see a packed house for this film, thus proving when there is a good movie, people will still go to the show.

Some observations on the Webster Place:

1) I did notice a few changes since the last time I was here (when it was a Loews). The place does look somewhat cleaner. Two concession stands were open and, per Paul’s comment above, they do pop the popcorn here. But the bulk candy seems to be a thing of the past.

2) No stadium seating here. Not a big issue for me. I’m more concerned with cleanliness, sightlines (I’m almost 6' OO" tall!), and comfort and repair of the seats.

3) Parking. If you are going on a weeknight, you might have a good chance of getting a spot on Clybourn Avenue. On weekends, forget it! Be sure you park in the parking deck marked for theatre patrons, because there is no validated parking for the strip mall lot in front of the place. This could set you back $20.00. Also, the parking deck is awkwardly configured. You can spend 15-20 minutes trying to get out of the lot after the movie.

4) Public transportation. As previous posters have said, it is not close to the CTA L lines and nor is there a bus line on Clybourn. The closest bus lines are on Fullerton (#74) or Armitage (#73), ¼ mile north or south of the theatre. But the #73 doesn’t run late on weekends. There is a Metra station about ½ mile away and that would be the fastest way on public transportation from Downtown Chicago.

The M&R/Loews merger occurred while the Esquire was being opened; technically it was an M&R/Loews theater.

Last I heard the Evanston Theatres were still standing, although somewhat neglected and supposedly headed for demolition. The Portage on Milwaukee Avenue was M&R for a number of years. So was the Oriental on Randolph Street.