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Normal Theater

209 W. North St., Normal, IL
Phone:

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The Art Moderne style Normal Theater with it's black glass accents on the exterior opened in November 1937. It was the first movie theater in Normal/Bloomington built to accommodate"talkies", you know, those crazy movies that let you actually hear what the actors were saying! Older theaters in town had been built before sound was part of the movie. When it opened it had room for 620 seats, now the capacity is 285.

GPS: 40.509394, -88.986431

In 1982 the theater closed but reopened in 1985 after being remodeled to include a second screen in the balcony, a practice called "twinning". That lasted until 1991 when it closed again. In November 1991 the Town of Normal purchased the theater and in 1994 reopened it with only a single screen after extensive renovations.

Photo(s): 2016