Old Commercial Buildings & Theatre, Lincoln, Illinois
A view of the southwest corner of Pulaski & Kickapoo St., catty-corner from Logan County Courthouse in downtown Lincoln. The two late-nineteenth century Italianate buildings are in the 400 block of Pulaski St.
The corner building at 429 Pulaski St. was constructed around 1885 and is a contributing building in the district. The two-part commercial building next to it at 425-427 Pulaski St. dates to 1890. With its cast iron front, second story windows with decorative hood molds and a heavy, metal cornice, the structure is identified as a significant building in the district.
On the left is the older part of the Lincoln Grand 8 Theatre on S. Kickapoo St. The Lincoln Theater opened in early-1923 with the Lon Chaney film “John Quincy Adams Sawyer”. In addition to cinema, the theater featured an organ and live stage shows well into the 1930’s. The architectural style of the original theater is Italian Villa, a design that is typically asymmetrical while the Italianate style emphasizes symmetry.
In 1985, the Lincoln Theater was twinned, and was turned into a quad in the mid-1990s. A $6M addition in 2016 (not shown in this photo) added four more screens, 775 seats, a new lobby and exterior streetscape. Rechristened as the Lincoln Grand 8, the theater closed in late 2018 after the owners defaulted on a $3.9M bank loan. Additionally, the city of Lincoln, which had bet on the theater project helping to attract more business and customers downtown, was out $2.3M in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) bond proceeds.
In the fall of 2020, the Lincoln Grand 8 Theater hit the market for $1.2M. The sale includes more than 42,000 square feet spread among three buildings - the original theater which opened in 1922, the 2016 addition, and a 1920s-built commercial building at the corner of S. Kickapoo and Clinton St. In 2021 it was taken over and reopened by VIP Cinemas.
Both of the 19th century Italianate buildings on Pulaski St., along with the Lincoln Theatre, are contributing properties in the Lincoln Courthouse Square Historic District that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
First settled in the 1830s, Lincoln is the only town in the United Stated that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president. Mr. Lincoln practiced law here from 1847 to 1859. Lincoln is the seat of Logan County, which is situated in central Illinois approximately 26 miles northeast of Springfield, the state capitol. The population of Lincoln at the 2020 census was 13,288.
Old Commercial Buildings & Theatre, Lincoln, Illinois
A view of the southwest corner of Pulaski & Kickapoo St., catty-corner from Logan County Courthouse in downtown Lincoln. The two late-nineteenth century Italianate buildings are in the 400 block of Pulaski St.
The corner building at 429 Pulaski St. was constructed around 1885 and is a contributing building in the district. The two-part commercial building next to it at 425-427 Pulaski St. dates to 1890. With its cast iron front, second story windows with decorative hood molds and a heavy, metal cornice, the structure is identified as a significant building in the district.
On the left is the older part of the Lincoln Grand 8 Theatre on S. Kickapoo St. The Lincoln Theater opened in early-1923 with the Lon Chaney film “John Quincy Adams Sawyer”. In addition to cinema, the theater featured an organ and live stage shows well into the 1930’s. The architectural style of the original theater is Italian Villa, a design that is typically asymmetrical while the Italianate style emphasizes symmetry.
In 1985, the Lincoln Theater was twinned, and was turned into a quad in the mid-1990s. A $6M addition in 2016 (not shown in this photo) added four more screens, 775 seats, a new lobby and exterior streetscape. Rechristened as the Lincoln Grand 8, the theater closed in late 2018 after the owners defaulted on a $3.9M bank loan. Additionally, the city of Lincoln, which had bet on the theater project helping to attract more business and customers downtown, was out $2.3M in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) bond proceeds.
In the fall of 2020, the Lincoln Grand 8 Theater hit the market for $1.2M. The sale includes more than 42,000 square feet spread among three buildings - the original theater which opened in 1922, the 2016 addition, and a 1920s-built commercial building at the corner of S. Kickapoo and Clinton St. In 2021 it was taken over and reopened by VIP Cinemas.
Both of the 19th century Italianate buildings on Pulaski St., along with the Lincoln Theatre, are contributing properties in the Lincoln Courthouse Square Historic District that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
First settled in the 1830s, Lincoln is the only town in the United Stated that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president. Mr. Lincoln practiced law here from 1847 to 1859. Lincoln is the seat of Logan County, which is situated in central Illinois approximately 26 miles northeast of Springfield, the state capitol. The population of Lincoln at the 2020 census was 13,288.