Coliseum Theatre

983 Front Street,
Aurora, IL

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Additional Info

Functions: Retail

Styles: Art Deco

Nearby Theaters

The Coliseum Theatre at 983 Front Street opened in 1923 seating 600. It was owned by Phil Billet. It seems this theatre picked up its name from the previous Coliseum that was later renamed the Fox Theatre on Downer Place. The new Coliseum was a smaller version Art Deco house of the previous. It remained a movie theatre until 1951 when it was converted into a Tri City grocery store with apartments above the grocery. There was about 18 city blocks between the original Coliseum/Fox and the newer Coliseum.

Contributed by Charles Van Bibber

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on April 8, 2004 at 7:44 pm

The spelling of Coliseum seems to be incorrect in the theatre name entry.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 26, 2008 at 10:35 pm

I didn’t see anything in this block that looked like an art deco theater. According to Google, this stretch of Front Street is residential. I’m wondering if there’s another Front Street in the business district which might account for the discrepancy.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 26, 2008 at 10:52 pm

I think so. The theater would have been in the the city, presumably, but this part of town is all residential. I suppose if you knew where Downer Place was, you could extrapolate 18 blocks from there, but no idea as to east, west, north or south from the old Coliseum.

Bruce C.
Bruce C. on February 15, 2010 at 7:46 pm

I have done some research on the theaters/cinemas of Aurora and I have had no luck finding anything on Front Street. I don’t believe this one every existed.

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