Lincoln Village 7-9
6101 N. Lincoln Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60659
6101 N. Lincoln Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60659
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 23 comments
Grand opening ad:
This theatre was divided into three auditoriums in 1983.
3 screens on December 16th, 1989.
This opened on August 2nd, 1968 with one screen. Its grand opening ad can be found in the photo section.
The theater was demolished in early 2002 during a remodeling and reconfiguration of the shopping center. Along with the theater, a Peterson Bank branch, the original What’s Cooking restaurant, and a few other nearby buildings were torn down and replaced with new storefronts that were placed closer to Lincoln Ave. The two main strips in Lincoln Village were remodeled. In its final years, the theater had fallen into disrepair, and the shopping center needed new life. The addition of a Borders, Starbucks, Panera, etc. certainly helped out.
Anyone know specifically why this theater closed? was it simply to renovate the area?
New photo uploaded. Circa 1992.
I like the artists' rendition shown here.
I’d love to see photogaphs of this place.
My daughter, Eleanor, who is now at successful Hollywood make-up artist, was a “candy girl” at the Lincoln Village theater. I think she told me that the introductory setting for “Sneak Previews” the original movie review TV program with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel on WTTW, was shot at the Lincoln Village.
This was a GREAT place to watch movies in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It was not very ornate like the older movie palaces – it was very modern.
Back then, it was just one theater with a main floor and a balcony. The stage was very nice and I remember the golden-colored curtains that would open and close for each show. It definitely added something.
Whoever owned it must have been a film buff and also part showman. They always had something extra going on. When they ran Saturday Night Fever, I remember a HUGE sign they put up on the outside of the building with a 30' tall John Travolta poster. Not to mention, the mini disco in the lobby with the dance floor just like the one in the movie.
It was ALWAYS very clean – in a Disney theme park kind of way. Also, nicely air-conditioned in the summer and they had TONS of free parking. It was not unusual for the place to be full back then.
Article about the original Lincoln Village Theater:
http://francesarcher.com/the-man-who-put-the-hollywood-in-hollywood-park-part-two/
It contains an exterior rendering.
I remember the Pistoleros, they were at the Hillside Theater too. That was the summer of 1971.
Reactivate Notification Status.
I believe “The Cowboys” w/John Wayne came out in 1972. You can check on IMDB.
I also just realized that by the above address and info, that all my posts to the Lincoln Village 1-6 page, belong on this Lincoln Village 7-9 page instead. This being the one where the Borders building is now. This would have been the furthest South of all the theaters ever built in this mall.
“The Warriors” opened here, and the ill-fated “Cocktail” outdoor bartending promotion took place here as well.(No one checked ID’s) Saw “Hearts of Dixie” here too.
I have a poster 8 ½" x 14" showing the Lincoln Village Theatre. The “Pistoleros” are doing a live fast draw shootout show during the the film “John Wayne & The Cowboys” It indicates a date starting March 31st but no year. Does anyone know what year this took place?
Thank you Carol
Borders is in a new building, not the theater building.
clyde1988,
This building is now a “Border’s” Book store.
Holly !@#$ it’s gone too! Jeez move away for 10 years and they tear the city down. Please post pic of the outside if anybody has some. Thanks.
I grew up less than a mile from the Lincoln Village in the 1970’s and early 80’s and was probably the most visited by my family along with the Nortown and later the Plaza Theatre after it opened down the street.
I remember specifically that it remained a one screen theatre until the winter of 1982 when it re-opened as a tri-plex with the balcony split in two. The first movie I remember seeing after it was split was To Be or Not To Be, which I believe was one of the first to play at re-opening.
I remember that through the 70’s it was a clean and very modern looking theatre with a huge open lobby with a large working fireplace fronted by a sunken seating area which gave it a very comfortable feel, especially in the winter. I also remember that they used to place billboards outside the theatre which ran the height of the building, Saturday Night Live ran for months with John Travolta staring down on the Parking Lot through much of the year it was released.
I don’t recall that the theater had a balcony, although I may be wrong. I do recall that there was a platform-type of seating on the main floor which provided quite a viewing angle. I saw “Raiders of the Lost Ark” there in July of 1981. I was working at the Nortown Theater at the time, which was a Plitt Theater. The LV (as some of us called it) was a Brotman and Sherman house. I remember that I would call over to the manager at the LV to get Nortown employees passed in for free. And the manager at the LV (who had worked at the Nortown at one time) would do the same. One benefit that the LV had over the Nortown was free, plentiful parking.
When it opened in 1968, it was a Brotman & Sherman theater. Esssaness took over in the early 80’s, possibly 1981. I’ll be going to the library next week, so I’ll look into that.
Oh, I believe that after the balcony was split into two screens, the main floor screen sat about 778 people. That’s 28 more seats than the McClurg Court, whose main screen sat about 750 after their balcony was split.
I vaguely remember this place. I went here when I was young. As it ended up in the Cineplex-Odeon chain, was it ever a Plitt or an Essaness?
Another website says that it was stripped to the walls and in a shambles towards the end. Was this for renovations that were never done?
The Lincoln Village opened August 2, 1968 with 1440 seats for the Brotman & Sherman chain. It featured “All dimension screen and cine-focus 35&70mm projection equipment, full six-channel stereophonic sound, luxurious wide aisle seating, and free coffee”