2002-21 DESIGNATING A LANDMARK LINCOLN SQUARE THEATRE AND INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS - 141-145 NORTH MAIN STREET

Home Browse Search

LINCOLN SQUARE THEATRE North/South side walls: While the northern side of the theater is covered completely by other buildings, a portion of the southern side is visible from West Main Street. The portion visible is of the recessed main theater portion that is approximately five stories tall. However, only the upper stories are visible due to another building along West Main Street that covers it. The portion visible though, is a flat red brick wall. In its eazlier days, this wall had"Lincoln Theatre" painted on it. Today, little if any remnants of this painting aze still there. Rear/Alley: The view along the alley way shows the western sidewall of the theatre fully. The upper portions of this wall aze identical to the parts seen from North Main Street. The southern third of the wall, which is the taller portion, is simply plain brick with no design features. However, the shorter northern two- thirds of the building has three strips of brick bands that run from the top to roughly the two-story height. Along this wall are aLso a number of randomly placed vents and a loading dock near the southem side near where the stage would be on the inside. Along the side is also an old metal fire escape with three emergency exit doors located at different levels, as well as a door at ground level. Interior- Although the interior is not regulated by the historic preservation ordinance, the Lincoln Square Theatre's interior has remained intact, although deteriorated. The lobby still has the same tile floor in place. Also located there is a ticket sales stand and concession stand. At the rear of the lobby are sets of stairs on both sides of the lobby leading up to the balcony and mezzanine levels with a hallway in the center leading to the main theater section. The theatre remains intact and used for live productions with the stage, main level seating, ri16��anine seating, and balcony seating. Historv The intersection of the four main streets in Decatur, where North and South Main streets intersect East and West Main streets was part of the original town pla.t laid out in 1829. Their intersection was called the Town Square. This center part of town was the home of a market for farmers to trade crops among each other. Also located here was the original county courthouse. Later, the Transfer House was located here and used as a transfer point for the city's electric streetcars and the interurbans, and later the city buses. In the later part of the 19th Century, the town square was renamed Lincoln Square. The first significant buildings built on the 100 block of North Main Street were two hotels, one a four-story hotel built in 1860 and the other a seven-story hotel built in 1893. The two hotels were well-known large hotels in downstate Illinois. They stood with prominence until a large fire on Apri121, 1915 destroyed both of the hotels.' The owner of the site of the former hotels was Clarence Wait of Decatur. To replace the lost buildings,Mr. Wait decided to put up a grand theater along with some commercial space. Local architect, Charles Aschauer was chosen to design the building that would house a mix use of the theatre, commercial space, and meeting hall for the Independent Order of 4