Arcada Theater

Built in 1926, the Arcada Theater is a three-story, L-shaped structure occupying the southeast corner of First Avenue and Main Street (Illinois Route 64) in downtown St. Charles, Kane County, Illinois. Chicago architect Elmer F. Behrns designed the 26,320-square-foot commercial building to include shops, offices, and a 1,009-seat theater. The exposed main elevations on the north and west reflect the Spanish Colonial Revival style, originally carried throughout the building. Brick masonry with beige terra cotta trim enhances the overall appearance of the building with full three-story height terra cotta areas at the northwest entrance and the marquee entrance on Main Street. The building's south elevation is unadorned, primarily a massive brick wall with a loading dock for the stage. The fly loft towers approximately six stories over the three-story building.

The north facade of the Arcada faces Main Street. Some changes have occurred in the windows at the first-floor level. Four large picture windows replaced two framed openings for the original drugstore at that location.

A canvas awning covers the heads of the windows. The window changes were made during a 1943 Art Moderne renovation. The marquee was replaced at this time. Formerly, it was a rectangular canopy over the north entrance. Presently it is trapezoidal in plan with a tall name sign projecting up to below the roof line of the building.

Original terracotta trim is fully intact at the north entrance, framing a two-story Spanish arched top window. Four terra cotta brackets appear to support the clay tile roof.

At the second-floor offices, two pairs of triple windows are on the north facade, surrounded by terra cotta in a brown brick background. The two groups of third-floor windows on the north are set in pairs with arched tops.

The northwest corner of the building is clipped at a 45-degree angle. The original terracotta that covers this comer is fully in place on the upper floors. A large French door-type window is on the second floor with an elaborate terra cotta cap and an iron grille over it.

On the west elevation, the window sets are continued, with six pairs on the third floor and four triple units on the second floor. The northernmost unit on the second floor is a double window instead of a triple.

The west elevation is virtually unchanged from its original appearance except for the canvas awning added at the west entrance. The two-story, south part of the west side of the building has more restrained rectangular pairs of windows but has a balcony of wood at an arched door as a feature. On the first floor below this balcony are three arched windows.

The first floor of the Arcada primarily contains commercial shops and a restaurant along with the auditorium. A 94-foot long by 12.5-foot wide two-story arcade of four arched openings with ornamental iron balustrades on the second floor originally led from the Main Street vestibule to the auditorium doors. Constructed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, the two-story hall was reduced to one-story in 1943 when the second floor was extended to provide additional office space. This first-floor arcade remains in the Art Moderne style of 1943, reflecting the popular style that broke the revivalist tradition. A tea room on the second floor, with a kitchen, was located on the west side of the building, south of the main staircase. The hand-painted cypress ceiling remains as it was originally.

The third floor of the Arcada originally contained a parlor, check room, kitchen, dining room, and the hall for the Masonic Lodge. Today, this floor contains the Club Arcada, a reimagined 1920s-era Speakeasy. The former space has been divided into several rooms, as well as a central dining area with raised stage for performances. There is a separate room with a bar, and the space is accessed from the elevator area through a "hidden door". The entire space is full of 1920s and 1930s artifacts.

Ingress and egress to the building are available from the First Street side and under the marquee on Main Street, both leading to the theater entry doors at the intersection of the two hallways. The Spanish influence throughout the building was obvious in the colored floor tile of the hallways. These hallways were changed to the striking Art Moderne patterns that exist today during the 1940's renovation. In the arcade, the doors are full glass with display windows stepped to the recessed door in very geometric patterns, typical of the Art Moderne style. Floor patterns are geometric, with triangle highlights at the entrances to the shops. Original interior walls are typically a rough texture plaster. Ceilings are divided with plaster beams decorated to appear as wood. Supporting beams are artistically ornamented with Indian head capitals designed by the building owner and builder, Lester Norris. They are visible at the second-floor offices.

Three pairs of restored leather-covered doors with brass buttons lead to the auditorium from the arcade through a foyer area. At the foyer, a coffered ceiling made of plaster is still highlighted with original iron light fixtures. A concession counter was added to the foyer area in 1978 to meet the needs of a movie theater.

In the auditorium, looking toward the 27 x 75-foot stage, the proscenium features a patterned plaster frame with decorative brackets. Niches are placed at the center of the two side walls consisting of three arches in stone patterned plaster with a suspended bell. The bells were used as chimes in conjunction with the organ. They also originally swung in synchronization with the organist's control.

The auditorium's ceiling has a centered octagonal opening with the effect of a Spanish court, a balcony appearance above. The ceiling consists of two massive main beams supported by ornamental plaster corbels and supported by plaster sub-beams, giving a coffered wood effect. The beams are decorated and glazed with varied colored designs. Between the beams, the ceiling has a tapestry pattern in light colors. This ceiling is unchanged since its construction in 1926.

Plaques of the Spanish Main face the front of the balcony, which has an ornamental iron railing. Lighting in the balcony is provided by five ceiling lights suspended from grilles.

The chairs in the Arcada, installed by the American Seating Company, had leather cushioned seats and tapestry backs. These 1,009 seats were changed to 900 velour-covered seats in 1968. On both sides of the stage are exit niches containing wrought iron gates.

In the basement, under the stage area, were seven dressing rooms, five of which remain unchanged today. The stage had a trap section with steel beams supporting fifteen removable panels on the stage floor.

It is still visible under the present fixed stage floor. 

The projection room is above the balcony, accessed by a vertical ladder. The room is 11 feet wide by 20 feet long. The projection throw is 92 feet to the screen.

The Arcada Theater building sits prominently on Main Street in St. Charles, Illinois, as an example of Lester Norris's confidence in the future of the city. In 1926, he spent $500,000 to build this 1,009-seat theater in a town of about 5,000 people. Built to last, the steel structured building has heavy masonry exterior walls of tan brick with beige terra cotta trim and engaged spiral columns at the windows. The red fire flashed, the Spanish tile decorative roof hides a built-in gutter at a sloped composition roof. Two inaccessible exterior balconies enhance the visual interest of the west elevation.

The Spanish Colonial Revival style has been maintained with much integrity on the exterior of the building, in the auditorium and throughout the second and third floors. The change in the arcade to Art Moderne in 1943 from the marquee to the theater doors is an upgrade which reflected the attitudes of the time and is important to the Arcada's history. The Art Moderne influence holds a high level of design integrity.

The Arcada Theater is representative of an "atmospheric" style auditorium. The atmospheric style auditorium dates to 1922 with the opening of the Majestic Theatre in Houston, Texas, designed by John Eberson. Eberson came to the United States from Austria and settled in St. Louis. He travelled to small towns selling ideas and plans for small opera houses. It was in the 1920s that Eberson made his mark.

Bored with the sameness of turn-of-the-century theaters and early movie palaces with their academic interiors, classical motifs, crystal chandeliers, red plush carpets, domes and marble staircases, Eberson devised a unique theme that became known as "atmospheric."

The Arcada Theater Building is an excellent example of the use of traditional revival styles in a modern commercial building. Lester Norris's choice of this style for his building shows his interest in architectural trends of his time . His interest in architecture has had a great influence on the downtown area of St. Charles and includes the 1940 Art Moderne St. Charles Municipal Building which, with Col. Edward Baker, was his gift to the city.

The Arcada opened September 6, 1926, Labor Day, with a silent movie and a number of vaudeville acts. The Arcada has provided continuous live and/or moving picture entertainment to the present day, interrupted very briefly only twice for remodeling. The Arcada is also a fine example of a small suburban movie palace of the 1920's and a good example of an atmospheric type theater executed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The Arcada's design combines the skill and experience of Elmer F. Behrns with that of local philanthropist and student of art and architecture Lester J. Norris, owner and builder. These smaller theatres represent a transition in the development of the moving picture and, at the same time, show the popularity of vaudeville entertainment. The Arcada was built at the peak yet at the end of vaudeville and transitioned rapidly through the advancement in motion pictures.

The Arcada Theater

The Arcada became known as one of the outstanding vaudeville houses in the Fox River Valley. The very finest acts on the circuit vied for the opportunity of playing the Arcada after a week at the Palace in Chicago. The large modern stage with innovative lighting and controls also featured a trap door, for aquatic and disappearing acts. The Arcada had the finest organ outside Chicago and it was noted that the Chicago Theatre added the same organ fully two years after the Arcada.

Innumerable acts, brought back many times as favorites of the pa trons, made up the weekend fare at the Arcada. In the early days it was said that patrons would journey from Chicago to St. Charles for the weekend in order to see a show at the Arcada Theater, dine in the adjacent Club Arcada and stay at the elegant Hotel Baker. (The Hotel Baker was built two blocks away in 1927 by Colonel Baker, the Uncle of Lester Norris's wife, Dellora.)

Additional entertainment such as bowling and gaming could be found at the Arcada Recreation Center, located one block behind the theater.

Through the years many stars have appeared at the Arcada: George Burns and Gracie Allen, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Olivia De Havilland, the John Phillip Sousa Band, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Vincent Price, Lee Remick, Jeannette McDonald, Walter Slezak, and Maria Von Trapp performing in the "Sound of Music".

"I am not exactly sure, but I do seem to recall that when Burns and Allen played the Arcada it was their final performance as a vaudeville team. Of course, they went on to radio and films but it was at our theater that they ended their vaudeville careers," said the late Dellora Norris in 'The St. Charles Parade', a magazine commemorating the city's sesquicentennial.

As a theater, the Arcada went through the same changing times as other theaters. The first silent movies were accompanied by the organist on the live organ. Then the equipment changed from "silent pictures" to "sound." "Sound" meant that many pictures released m late 1926 and 1927 were synchronized with music on discs but contained no dialogue. "Sound" appealed to the movie goers and they were soon demanding "voices."

The first acclaimed talking picture was released in 1927 by Warner Brothers when they presented Al Jolson in "The Jazz Singer." Also in 1927 the first pictures with sound-on-film, Movietone, were shown. In 1928 came the first talking picture "The Lights of New York".

The Arcada kept pace, and vaudeville was presented less frequently. However, the Arcada was one of the last in the nation to maintain vaudeville after the "talkies" had taken over.

Most of the houses throughout the country went to "talkies" as the movies out-did themselves with musicals so elaborate and so filled with talent no single act on the current circuit could compare. As vaudeville faded, the organ and the sing-alongs with the bouncing white ball were used to help lure the public into the movie house. The theater was used for stage plays and musicals through the years, as well as for "silents" and "talkies". In the '30's and '40's, it was popular for theaters to present a combination of vaudeville and movies.

In 1936, the organ was replaced with a new, expanded, instrument made by the Geneva Organ Company. The new 3 manual, 16 rank organ was installed along with an electric lift to raise the player out of the orchestra pit. The 16 rows of pipes in the music chambers are fitted in with a variety of other music making devices. A full sized piano is played electrically from the organ keyboard. Drums, tambourines, castanets, blocks and a bird whistle all add to the sound effects. Additionally, to produce the ultimate in concert sound, a third sound chamber was installed at the rear of the auditorium to produce an echo effect.

Various organists of great talent were employed including the well known Howard Peterson. Peterson's organ concerts were broadcast on Chicago radio stations  throughout the '30's, and he remained with the Arcada until the use of the organ was discontinued in 1941. The organ then remained silent for many years, except for two rare occasions in the '60's when the Chicago Area Theatre Organ Enthusiasts, CATOE, did  some repair work enabling it to be used in an organ concert and a Playmaker production.

Elmer F. Behrns

The architect selected by Lester Norris to design the Arcada was Elmer F. Behrns, 605 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Behrns was well accomplished in the art of theatre design. He had previously been a staff architect for the firm of Rapp and Rapp.

Much of the training and experience obtained by Mr. Behrns occurred while m the employ of Rapp and Rapp and their influence on his style is apparent in the Arcada design.

Prior to designing the Arcada, Mr. Behrns had recently completed the Chica$o Tivoli Theatre. By 1930, he had designed a number of other Illinois theaters. The Princess, in Woodstock, held 1000 and had a Moorish theme. The Pekin, in Pekin, was Chinese in design and held 1000. The El Tovar, in Crystal Lake, with 1000 seats, and the Yark, in  Elmhurst, 1200 seats, were both of Spanish architecture. The largest of the group was the Egyptian, in DeKalb, designed to hold 1600, and was of an Egyptian Motif.

Hans Jensen, contractor, was awarded the principal contract of carpentry work. The  Albert Pick firm was selected as painting contractor but, after defaulting, was replaced by the W.P. Nelson firm of Chicago.

Lester J. Norris

The influence on the design and operation of the Arcada by the owner, Lester J. Norris of St. Charles, cannot be understated. Lester Norris was a wealthy local citizen who took three years of planning and $500,000 to construct the Arcada and personally served as the builder.

Norris, a graduate of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, was an established commercial artist and former cartoonist with the Chicago Tribune, who designed carved Indian heads to ornament ceiling beams in the arcade. Ornamental hand-wrought iron gates were imported from Venice, Italy, for the foyer. Mr. Norris also had cypress wood cut and hand painted in Florida and shipped north to line the ceiling of the second floor Red Parrot Tea Room.

Special tapestry chairs for the auditorium were secured through Lester's uncle, Bert  Norris, who operated the long-established family business, Norris and Sons Furniture Store and Morturary, in St. Charles. Lester Norris drew the artwork for the theatre programs. Norris's financial backing, along with the management of Theatre Manager Wilham L. Pracht, had much to do with the fact that the Arcada was able to function as an independent and would book the top acts which would arrive one week after opening in Chicago. The Arcada did not need to "wait in line" for acts to progress through the suburban circuit before corning to St. Charles.

The Arcada Building

The idea of combining theatrical, commercial and/ or residential spaces in one building was not new in 1926 when the Arcada was built. This idea had its roots in later Victorian small-town opera houses that were very often on the second floor or in the back of a city hall, lodge or other commercial structure. Early movie palaces were often placed prominently in multi-purpose structures and office buildings, usually where property was at a premium - as in larger cities - or where cost was a factor as in neighborhoods and smaller towns, such as in St. Charles. As early as 1889, the famous auditorium theater in Chicago was incorporated into Adler and Sullivan's noted Auditorium Hotel, while the State Lake Theatre was incorporated in Rapp and Rapp's State Lake office building of 1917. The Tivoli Theatre in nearby Downers Grove Illmois was designed with street level storefronts and a second story hotel and a bowling alley in the basement. The larger Rialto Square Theatre (1926 Rapp and Rapp) in Joliet, Illmois similarly offers street level storefronts, a basement bowling/billiards hall, and several floors of professional office space. The DuPage Theatre, located app. 18 miles to the East in Lombard, Illinois, is the Arcada's closest atmospheric neighbor and contains seven storefronts ( originally six). In Aurora, Illinois, the Paramount Theatre (1931 Rapp and Rapp) located app. 10 miles to the south of the Arcada was built without commercial space but a strip of stores was added a longside its auditorium within a few years.

The Arcada is therefore representative of the theatrical/ commercial type building common in the 1920's and is the only such facility to have been built in St. Charles and is typical of the atmospheric style of movie palace, already developed by 1926. The Arcada remains the only atmospheric suburban movie palace within a 10 mile radius of St. Charles.

The Arcada began with the Helmer drugstore in the front corner (1st Avenue and Main Street) with two other retailers adjacent. The Chas. Belyea Men's Wear Shoppe was located on First Avenue south of the drugstore, with the Chromcle Publishing Company also on the ground floor in the space that later became the Club Arcada. The Sandaccarry Soda Shoppe was located on the second floor, overlooking the entryway. A women's wear shor.pe and the Red Parrot Tea Room, along with some business offices, completed the available space along with the third floor lodge hall. In small town St. Charles, the theatre's stores were an integral part of St. Charles commerce.

The Arcada brought to its small community, theatre, entertainment and culture  specially during the lean years of the depression. It offered an escape close to home.

Additional History

In the mid-'60's, a well known Chicagoland theatrical producer, Marshall Migatz, gathered together name personalities and presented the Standing Room Only series of fine Broadway musicals. When the ladies of the Calvary Episcopal Church in Batavia decided to bring in top talent at popular prices to earn money for a church project, they didn't know how appropriate was the name they had selected. Cornelia Otis Skinner, world-renowned actress and writer, began the series in October of 1965. As she walked onto the 27' by 75' stage before the performance to test the sound equipment, she told the stage crew that the acoustics were nearly perfect. She said that she had played great theaters all over the world and the Arcada ranked among the best. She went on to perform without the aid of a microphone.

Another of the SRO performers to be impressed with the mechanics and sound effects 6f the Arcada Theater was the late Basil Rathbone, a cultured gentleman of 70 when he appeared here, and an actor of "the old school" . He said that the Arcada was one of the few theaters in the country to measure up to the acoustics of the English theaters of 50 years ago. "In those days," he said, "there were no microphones. To be heard, an actor had to develop the quality of his voice and project it across a perfectly constructed sound chamber." Rathbone was also impressed with how the Arcada scenery was 'flown'. He explained that this means that a very high loft area above the stage is the resting place of props and scenery, which can be lowered and raised for rapid scene changes. There were 35 rigging lines, and the model equipment was the first to be installed in the North by the Vollands of St. Louis. In addition, all booth equipment was to be the same as the Chicago Theater.

The SRO series was preceded and followed in the '60s and '70s by a community theater group, the Playmakers. During this period, audiences were treated to a variety of productions such as "Annie Get Your Gun", "Bittersweet", "Brigadoon", "Carousel", "Girl Crazy", "The Merry Widow" and "Time of the Cuckoo". The shows were acclaimed by local audiences but were discontinued after 1979 due to rising costs.

In 1971 Bill Barry of Glen Ellyn and Doug Christensen of Lombard convinced the Arcada management that they could make the organ playable again. They began the process of releathering the organ and rebuilding the relay contacts. Missing pipes were found and returned to the theater, and the group completely restored the organ console with its color-lighted panels. After two years of work, CATOE began a series of concerts that again filled the house with organ aficionados. Their labor of love to maintain the organ continues to this day, and the organ is played frequently before movie presentations.