Classic Cinemas is the largest

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

based

movie theatre A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

chain. Headquartered in

Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the village was ...

, it operates 16 locations with 141 screens in Illinois and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

under Tivoli Enterprises ownership. Its first theatre and company namesake is the restored Tivoli Theatre, in Downers Grove, Illinois.

History

Classic Cinemas was founded in 1978 by Willis and Shirley Johnson, when after the previous operators of the Tivoli Theater, located in the Tivoli building owned by the Johnsons abandoned the theater, they decided to step in and run the theater themselves after they were unable to find another operator. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the company continued to grow by purchasing historical single screen downtown theaters, restoring and adding additional screens to the complexes. Classic Cinemas was awarded the Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for “Stewardship” in 2011. During a period in the 1980s when some major films were released with

70mm 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...

prints for select theatres, Classic Cinemas (then under the Tivoli Enterprises name) featured these wide-gauge prints at their flagship Tivoli Theatre for bargain prices once they had ended their first-run engagements. This might be the only example of a "sub run" theatre showing films in that format. Classic Cinemas finished its technology overhaul in 2012 installing Christie CP4230 projectors, GDC SX2000AR servers, and Datasat AP-20 audio processors. Now all screens have 4K,

High Frame Rate In motion picture technology—either film or video—high frame rate (HFR) refers to higher frame rates than typical prior practice. The frame rate for motion picture film cameras was typically 24 frames per second (fps) with multiple flashes on ...

(HFR), personal captioning devices, descriptive narration, and hearing impaired systems. They are also installing micro-perforated screens for the ultimate picture quality. All theatres and auditoriums are equipped

7.1 7.1 surround sound is the common name for an eight-channel surround audio system commonly used in home theatre configurations. It adds two additional speakers to the more conventional six-channel ( 5.1) audio configuration. As with 5.1 surround so ...

sound. The chain has also introduced XQ, a

Premium large format A movie theater (American English) or cinema (Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business that contains auditoriums for viewing fi ...

along with installing power recliners at every location.

Locations

* Beloit Theater in

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit ( ) is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. Beloit is a principal city of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area (Rock Co ...

, 10 screens * Charlestowne 18 in St. Charles, Illinois, 18 screens * Carpentersville 12 in

Carpentersville, Illinois Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 37,983 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History Julius Angelo Carpenter (August 19, 1827 – March 30, 1880) was the foun ...

, 12 screens * Elk Grove Theatre in

Elk Grove Village, Illinois Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorporat ...

, 10 screens * Fox Lake Theatre in

Fox Lake, Illinois Fox Lake is a village in Lake County, Illinois and Burton Township, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. Fox Lake is a northwestern Chicago suburb. The population was 10,978 at the 2020 census. It is located 50 miles north of Chicago. H ...

, 13 screens * Kendall 11 in

Oswego, Illinois Oswego ( ) is a village in Kendall and Will counties, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 34,485. Oswego is the largest municipality in Kendall County. Part of the Chicago metropolitan area, it is an exurb of Chica ...

, 11 screens * La Grange Theatre in

La Grange, Illinois La Grange ( ; often spelled LaGrange) is a village (United States)#Illinois, village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. The population was 16,321 at the 2020 census. History The area around La Grange was first s ...

, 6 screens * Lake Theatre in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

, 7 screens * Lindo Theatre in

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the largest city in Stephenson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is k ...

, 9 screens * Meadowview Theatre in

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Kankakee River, as of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley, IL MSA, Kan ...

, 7 screens * North Riverside Luxury 6 in

North Riverside, Illinois North Riverside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 7,426. Geography North Riverside is located at (41.846222, -87.829585). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, North ...

, 6 screens * Paramount Theatre in

, 5 screens * Sandwich 7 in

Sandwich, Illinois Sandwich is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, DeKalb and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 7,421 at the 2010 census and 7,221 at the 2020 census. History The town's history is tied to ...

, 7 screens * Tivoli Theatre in

, 2 screens * Woodstock Theatre in

Woodstock, Illinois Woodstock is a city in and the county seat of McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 51 miles northwest of Chicago, making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, 8 screens * York Theatre in

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 45,786 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History M ...

, 10 screens

Former locations

* Arcada Theater and Foxfield Theater (closed 2001) in St. Charles, Illinois * Barrington Square Theaters (closed October 2000) in

Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village previously served as the headquarters for Transform Holdco L ...

* Casino Cinema at

Grand Victoria Casino Elgin The Grand Victoria Casino Elgin is a riverboat casino in Elgin, Illinois, United States, located about west of Chicago. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. History The casino was developed by Gold Strike Resorts and Hyatt. It ope ...

(closed 2002) in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Kane County, Illinois, Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located northwest of Chicago along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River. As of the 2020 United Stat ...

* Hinsdale Theater (closed 2012) in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. It is one of the wealthiest communities in Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago with a population of 17,395 ...

* Ogden 6 (closed June 7, 2020) in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago located west of the city on the DuPage River. As of the 2020 United State ...

, 6 screens * Park Forest Theater (closed in 2004, later became Holiday Star Theater, theatre closed in 2013) in

Park Forest, Illinois Park Forest is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small southern portion in Will County, Illinois, Will County. The village was originally designed by Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, Loebl Schlossman & ...

Spring Hill Mall Spring Hill Mall was a shopping mall in West Dundee, Illinois with a small portion in neighborning Carpentersville, Illinois, Carpentersville. The mall's anchor tenants are currently Kohl's and Cinemark. There are four vacant anchor stores that ...

Theaters (closed April 17, 1998) in

West Dundee, Illinois West Dundee is a village in Kane County, Illinois, Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,686 as of the 2020 US Census. It is considered a far northwest Chicago suburb. West Dundee lies across the Fox River (Illinois River tri ...

* Sterling Theater in

Sterling, Illinois Sterling is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States, along the Rock River. The population was 14,782 at the 2020 census, down from 15,370 in 2010. Formerly nicknamed "Hardware Capital of the World", the city has long been associate ...

* Tivoli South (closed 2001) in

* Tradewinds Cinemas 1 & 2 (closed 2002) in

Hanover Park, Illinois Hanover Park is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, the population was 37,470 at the 2020 census. Ontarioville is a neighborhood within the village. History Ontarioville was initially the n ...

References

External links

*
Woodstock Theatre at Theatre Historical Society of America
{{Major USA Cinema Chains Cinemas and movie theaters in Illinois Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois Downers Grove, Illinois Movie theatre chains in the United States