Dark windows, deserted lobbies and a blank marquee were the only remnants of Loews’ Evanston 5 theater Monday afternoon as staff finished packing up and moving out.
Evanston 5, 1716 Central St., closed its doors last week, making it one of seven Loews theaters in the Chicago area to shut down while Loews Cineplex Entertainment seeks relief from creditors and restructures the financing of its debt.
Loews announced in a statement Thursday that it filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The release also said the company signed a letter of intent proposing that an investor group acquire the company. A total of 22 Loews theaters throughout the country will close immediately.
A $272.9 million third-quarter loss also hit Loews Cineplex, a company created by the 1998 merger of Loews Theatres and the Cineplex Odeon Corporation.
Representatives for Loews could not be reached Monday afternoon, and Evanston 5 employees declined to comment on the issue.
Medill senior Jeanette Nelson said she discovered the theater had closed when she went to see a movie Thursday. She said she and her friends had frequented Evanston 5 because it charged low prices for late weeknight shows.
“It was disappointing,” Nelson said.
Karen Bannow, Weinberg ’94, agreed.
“I’m kind of bummed,” said Bannow, who lives on Central Street near the theater.
A longtime Evanston fixture, the Central Street theater opened as the Stadium Theater in 1937.
Recently, the classic-style venue faced a ticket-sale slump after the opening of the 18-screen multiplex Century Theatres in November.
Brad Howard, a manager at the theater, said in January that Evanston 5 had shown few new films since the competition arrived, but he said he remained confident about the theater’s future.
Thursday’s announcement of Evanston 5’s closing came a little less than a month after Loews Cineplex announced it would shut down 112 of its older theaters because of competition and decreasing attendance. A spokesman for Loews Cineplex had declined to comment at that time whether its Evanston theater was included in that group.
Lawrence J. Ruisi, Loews Cineplex president and chief executive, stated in Thursday’s release that the restructuring process will allow the company to focus on locations “with the greatest potential” to attract customers and serve their market. The statement said the company expects to close at least 50 more U.S. theaters in the near future.
