Wheaton Grand Theater

123 N. Hale Street,
Wheaton, IL 60187

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Valos Theaters

Architects: Norman Brydges

Previous Names: Grand Theater, Paramount Theater, Wheaton Theater

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News About This Theater

Wheaton Grand Theater

The Grand Theatre, which opened in 1925 with 1,000 seats, closed in the late-1990’s as a second-run movie house and is seeking to raise between $5-7 million for restoration costs. The new owners, the Wheaton Grand Theater Corp., reopened the theater on a limited basis in 2002 with the Wheaton Grand Theatre serving as a venue for concerts, classic film screenings and other community events.

The Wheaton Grand Theater closed April 1, 2006, to allow for the beginning of an $8 million restoration and renovation project which was expected to take around two years to return the theater to its original appearance, including a return to a single screen configuration. Unfortunately, by 2021, these plans had come to nothing, and the theatre sits empty and unused.

Contributed by Ross Melnick, Dave Wiegers

Recent comments (view all 370 comments)

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on July 14, 2010 at 3:16 pm

Man after all the dedate and name calling on this site now another set back thats too bad looks like a nice theatre.

cmastersin
cmastersin on April 7, 2011 at 12:03 pm

Send the Wonder Morton back home to the Kings where it belongs

cmastersin
cmastersin on April 20, 2011 at 9:44 am

Let everybody understand, I like the Wheaton Grand. I would grimace at seeing this movie palace wrecked. However, being a preservationist, I would truly appreciate the return of the remaining Wonder Morton components to the Kings, if the parties found a way to accomplish this. In the event the Wheaton Grand is saved, there ARE other theater organs out there, awaiting a new home. In fact, I know of a virtually complete 3m Wurlitzer right in my home town, that is available!

Rob_Blohm
Rob_Blohm on July 2, 2012 at 12:51 pm

A new group is raising funds online to purchase and restore the Wheaton Grand for use as a concert venue and performing arts center. Visit the fundraiser page at http://www.indiegogo.com/thegrand

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on July 27, 2012 at 11:56 am

I never did understand why they had to stop doing concerts here. It seems like it was a reasonable business at least. That they didn’t continue with local shows while money was raised was always a question mark for me.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on October 12, 2012 at 1:50 am

A prospective buyer has come forward with plans to restore the Wheaton Grand if the sale goes through and a fund raising drive is successful: View article

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on March 13, 2013 at 3:27 am

Great news,thanks….not another parking lot…

WheatonGrandTheater
WheatonGrandTheater on July 17, 2013 at 2:14 pm

If anyone sees this, I am the main volunteer in the restoration of the Wheaton Grand Theater. I will occasionally post updates as they happen on here, and please bookmark www.wheatongrandtheater.com and like us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WheatonGrandTheater and if you feel gracious, please donate a few bucks to our cause. We are already making big strides and hope to have this open in 2014/15.

cmastersin
cmastersin on October 17, 2014 at 9:21 pm

Back in 2011 I learned about the Lowes Kings Wonder Morton console, etc. and the premise of it possibly being installed in the Wheaton, if restoration commenced.. I posted that it should rather be returned to it’s original location in the Kings. I just learned that two months after my posts that it’s owners DID arrange for it’s return to New York! Hurray!

whtesoxfan56
whtesoxfan56 on September 29, 2017 at 10:02 pm

Any new updates, on the restoration of this theater? I hope a restoration could successfully occur, for this theater. Unlike the DuPage Theater in Lombard, which got demolished. :(

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