Classic Cinemas is the largest

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

based

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

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. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I-55. ...

, it operates 16 locations with 137 screens in Illinois and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

(as of May 2022) under Tivoli Enterprises ownership. Its first theatre and company namesake is the restored Tivoli, which has over 1000 seats in the original auditorium, in Downers Grove, Illinois. A second auditorium, with 33 seats, was completed in 2021.

Notable features

Classic Cinemas is known for its extensive and historically sensitive renovations of historic theatres some of which include painstaking recreations of plasterwork, glass, and marquees. Classic Cinemas founders Willis and Shirley Johnson are members of a number of preservation societies and were 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 DTS, Inc. (originally Digital Theater Systems) is an American company that makes multichannel audio technologies for film and video. Based in Calabasas, California, the company introduced its DTS technology in 1993 as a competitor to Dolby Lab ...

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 sou ...

sound. The chain has started to install dts:X object-based sound at several locations Classic Cinemas has installed luxury power recliners in all of Beloit, Cinema 12, Charlestowne, Fox Lake, La Grange, North Riverside Luxury 6, Cinema 7, Paramount, Meadowview and York auditoriums. They also have added recliners to some of the Elk Grove, Kendall 11, Lindo, Tivoli, and Woodstock screens. Classic Cinemas, based in Downers Grove, Illinois, is a family-owned company operated by Willis, Shirley and Chris Johnson. Established in 1978, Classic Cinemas operates 16 theatres with 137 screens in 15 communities in the northern Illinois and Wisconsin area. As of September 23, 2016, Classic Cinemas opened up Cinema 7 in Sandwich, Illinois.

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. History Twelve men in Colebrook, New Hampshire, created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836 and sent ...

, 10 screens * Charlestowne 18 in

St. Charles, Illinois St. Charles is a city in DuPage and Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It lies roughly west of Chicago on Illinois Route 64. Per the 2020 census, the population was 33,081. The official city slogan is "Pride of the Fox", after the F ...

, 18 screens * Cinema 12 in

Carpentersville, Illinois Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 37,983 at the 2020 census. Geography Carpentersville is located at (42.121156, -88.274679). According to the 2010 census, Carpentersville has a total a ...

, 12 screens * Cinema 7 in

Sandwich, Illinois Sandwich is a city in DeKalb and 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 politician "Long John" Wentworth and his efforts t ...

, 7 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 Grant and Antioch townships in Lake County, Illinois and Burton Township, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,978 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately 57 miles north of Chicago. Hi ...

, 9 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. It is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. History In 1833, William Sm ...

, 11 screens * La Grange Theatre in

La Grange, Illinois ''(the barn)'' , nickname = , motto = ''Tradition & Pride – Moving Forward'' , anthem = ''My La Grange'' by Jimmy Dunne , image_map = File:Cook County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas La Grange Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 26 ...

, 6 screens * Lake Theatre in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...

, 7 screens * Lindo Theatre in

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

, 9 screens * Meadowview Theatre in

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. As of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area. It serves as an ...

, 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 R ...

, 6 screens * Paramount Theatre in

, 5 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 45 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 mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260. History Members of the Potawatomi Native A ...

, 10 screens

Former locations

* Arcada Theater, and Foxfield Theater (closed 2001) in

* 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 and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-large ...

* Sterling Theater in

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

* Tivoli South, (closed 2001) in

, * Barrington Square Theaters (closed October 2000) in

Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, with a small section in Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village now serves a ...

Spring Hill Mall Spring Hill Mall is a shopping mall in West Dundee and Carpentersville, Illinois. The mall's anchor stores are Kohl's and Cinemark. There are 4 vacant anchor stores that were once Carson Pirie Scott, Sears, Macy's, and Barnes & Noble. History Sp ...

Theaters (closed April 17, 1998) in

West Dundee, Illinois West Dundee is a village in 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 from East Dundee and Carpentersville. ...

* 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 in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

, 6 screens * Park Forest Theater (closed now known as Holiday Star Theater) in

Park Forest, Illinois Park Forest is a village located south of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, with a small southern portion in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village was originally designed as a planned community for veterans returning from World War II. ...

* 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. Geography Hanover Park is located at (4 ...

* Hinsdale Theater (closed 2012) in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...

References

Landmarks Illinois. "Award for Stewardship

External links

Classic Cinemas

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