Apollo Fine Arts & Entertainment Centre
311 Main Street,
Peoria,
IL
61602
311 Main Street,
Peoria,
IL
61602
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1958 photo added credit Peoria Public Library.
1955 photo added, photo credit Peoria Public Library.
Dead website link. Show info available by using phone#
(This is not an attack) According to Jim Rankin’s post in Sept. of 04, The Apollo Theater is the only other theater attributed to architect Frederick Klein but that would not be true. The Peoria’s Madison Theater, currently awaiting restoration, was also designed by Klein in 1921 and is an almost exact duplicate of the 1916 Circle Theater in Indianapolis, IN.
Here’s a nice shot of the Apollo:
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The current incarnation is indeed a small venue utilizing the old balcony space. No original exterior facade features exist and the interior space is a totally contemporary design.
The present theater space, as I understand it, is the old balcony space and part of the auditorium, the ground floor and stage having been destroyed, and now seats 160.
According to the book “The CORONADO THEATRE, Rockford’s Crown Jewel” the APOLLO is only one among a group designed by Peoria architect Frederic J. Klein. Others in Peoria by him are/were: HIPPODROME, DUCHESS, COLUMBIA, and the MADISON. He is also credited with the PRINCESS in Ottawa, Ill, not to mention the fabulous CORONADO in Rockford, for which alone his name should go down in history.