Dunes 1,2,3 Theatre

Allen92909 on July 5, 2007 at 10:25 am

I work at the Dunes Theater in Zion. One of our employees who has been there almost 20 years has yet to ever meet the Ryhans. We are now owned by “C” you at the movies Inc though. They also own the McHenry theaters, the Antioch theater, and the Libertyville theater.

LouisRugani on October 19, 2007 at 11:46 am

ZION — City commissioners are kicking around the idea of imposing an amusement tax, not as a new source of revenue but to help expand Zion’s one and only movie theater. Gurnee has such a tax and boasts Six Flags Great America. Zion’s sole privately owned entertainment business is the small, old Dunes Theater at 3398 Sheridan Road, the last remaining theater in Zion, and, so far, would be the only business subject to a proposed entertainment tax. Mayor Lane Harrison said the tax probably would not be adopted. “I don’t think we even want to pursue it. There are just too many unanswered questions,” he said, pointing to the legality for a municipality to level such a tax and then rebate it to the theater for use in expansion. The suggested amount of tax would be 5 cents per ticket. Harrison said there have been talks about expanding the three-screen theater, owned by Ryan Industries, to eight screens. He stressed that the Dunes has ample room to expand into an “enormous parking lot that is unused.”

A 5 cents-per-ticket tax would generate between $25,000 and $30,000 a year, according to some estimates. If the Dunes is expanded, revenue from the tax could reach $75,000. That’s a fraction of what Gurnee receives from its 3 percent tax. Last year the village collected $2.56 million in amusement taxes, according to Jim Hayner, village administrator. “It’s a good revenue,” he said. “In fact, the best revenue apart from sales taxes.” The revenue last year included $1.75 million from Great America, $175,000 from the Marcus theaters at Gurnee Mills, $20,000 from golf courses and $1,700 from an ice rink, also at the mall.

As a leader in amusement taxes, Hayner said other municipalities would often consult with Gurnee. Zion hopes to expand its tiny amusement sector, Harrison said, citing plans to build an eight-screen movie house at the northeast corner of Route 173 and Green Bay Road. A developer has shown an interest in the project, he said. “We have the demographics for it,” he said.

Zion is seeking new revenues to fill the vacuum created when ComEd closed its nuclear generating plant, once the city’s major employer and payer of real estate taxes.

From the News Sun

BEACHARK1 on April 27, 2012 at 10:54 am

Now closed. I thank because of upstairs bathrooms.

jonrev on October 25, 2014 at 12:06 am

Demolished in October of 2014.

50sSNIPES on July 5, 2022 at 2:24 pm

Opened on October 17, 1946 with Bob Hope in “Monsieur Beaucaire” along with a local newsreel “Dunes Review”.