David A. Kraft
133 West Main Street
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 337-0518
kraftproperties@ameritech.net
| 126 W. Church St., Champaign, IL : 8,800 square foot commercial building |
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Sale Price: $1,143,888.50 for theater, retail & residential space
Square Feet: 8,800 sq.ft.
Sale Price Includes: 240+ seats, marquee letters, concession counter, apartment appliances
Awards: Champaign-Urbana's Best Movie Theater
Awards: Roger Ebert's Favorite Theater (Entertainment Weekly)
Awards: 1913 Local Landmark
THEATER LIQUOR LICENSE NOW AVAILABLE!!!
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| On the same block as the Art, the former Piano building sold in 2007 for $600,000, and the Great Impasta building for $1,687,777 in 2008. The average of those two sales is $1,143,888.50. Downtown Champaign has undergone extensive renovation and expansion during the past five years, including the construction of a City-owned parking deck directly behind the Art that is able to serve building patrons. |
The Park Theatre 1913-1958
The Art Theatre opened as the Park Theatre in downtown Champaign during November 1913, though the grand opening occurred during February 1914 upon the installation of a pipe organ. The first film accompanied by the organ was “The Last Days of Pompeii”. The Park showed silent films until the theater was converted to sound during 1929. The original owner, B.H. Cooper, who studied the design of theaters in Chicago prior to designing the Park, built the theater specifically for the presentation of films. The original screen was positioned two or three feet from the back wall and was framed by a carved plaster proscenium arch. A larger screen was later moved closer to the audience to accommodate larger format movies, hiding the proscenium. The brick walls and concrete floors were advertised as fireproofing features.
The Alger Brothers bought the Park during 1931 and remodeled the lobby and box office. In addition, the Algers added structural glass with chromium fixtures to the front of the theater and acoustic material to the auditorium walls; new sound equipment was added. The Algers installed air conditioning in early 1937 and the current marquee during 1950. During the 1950s, the Park’s programming consisted mainly of B-class westerns and comedies. Factors including the rapid growth of television caused the Park to close during July 1958.
The Art Theatre 1958-present
Louis Sher, president of the Art Theatre Guild, bought the Park during September 1958. The Park was renamed the Art Theatre to reflect the new choice of independent and foreign film programming and re-opened during October 1958. The first film shown by the Art was “The Red and the Black”. The Art offered free coffee and soda and became the premier alternative theater in Champaign-Urbana. It was during the late 1950s and the 1960s that Urbana-native Roger Ebert discovered the Art. As described by Ebert:
“The atmosphere of the Art reflected the new beatnik culture of the ‘50s, and to walk through the doors was like breathing the air of freedom. There wasn’t any popcorn, but the coffee was free, black, and strong, and at the age of 16, sitting in the dark wired on caffeine and trying to puzzle through Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Through a Glass Darkly’, I felt like I was on the brink of amazing discoveries about the world, life, and myself.”
A subsequent general decline in art film attendance caused Sher to change the programming to “adult” movies during 1971. The proliferation of adult movies on videotape prompted Sher to close the Art during September 1986 and put the building up for sale.
John Manley purchased the building during January 1987. Manley and Tom Angelica remodeled the lobby, projection room, and auditorium, and hung a new screen. Ron Epple of the Expanded Cinema Group booked the films, the first of which was “Turtle Diary”. The theater was known as the New Art Theatre during this time. Following the deaths of Manley and Epple, Angelica continued to operate the theater. Donations provided funds for new seats during the mid-1990s.
The building was purchased by David Kraft during January 2001. The existing lease expires on December 30, 2012.
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