GCC Pekin Mall Cinema I & II
3500 Court Street,
Pekin,
IL
61554
3500 Court Street,
Pekin,
IL
61554
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The General Cinema Pekin Mall Cinema I & II opened on February 8th, 1974 with “American Graffiti” and “A Touch of Class”. It was taken over by Kerasotes in 1986 who closed it on January 27, 2000. The mall was demolished in December 2003.
Contributed by
MIKE RIVEST
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Correction: Closed 1999.
February 8th, 1974 grand opening ad posted.
Taken over by Kerasotes on October 29, 1987.
Kerasotes operated the theater from October 29, 1987 until its final closure on November 18, 1999 with “The Bone Collector” and “Pokémon: The First Movie”.
The Pekin Mall was announced in 1967 to be anchored by a P.A. Bergner’s Department store. The long-gestating project added a JCPenney anchor and finally launched on August 2, 1973 theatre-less. But that would change quickly. General Cinema Corp. entered the market with a double cinema. The GCC Pekin Mall I & II opened with 701 seats on Feb 8, 1974. “American Graffiti” and “A Touch of Class” were the opening titles.
General Cinema left the Mall on October 28, 1987. Kerasotes took on the venue the next day, October 29, 1987, as the Pekin Mall Cinemas beginning the next day. The 25-year leasing deal was coming toward its end and Kerasotes went big building a new multiplex. It opened on November 19, 1999 and the Mall undoubtedly gave Kerasotes a month-to-month sweetheart deal to keep the space filled with the mall reaching greyfield status.
The venue was repositioned on November 19, 1999 as the Discount Movies at Pekin Mall with all seats a dollar. Kerasotes bailed on the dying mall on January 27, 2000 with just a single auditorium functioning and “Double Jeopardy.” The Pekin Mall was demolished in December of 2003.