News

Effingham's historic Heart Theater undergoes renovation

Posted January 08, 2015 10:00 pm

The Associated Press

EFFINGHAM, Ill. (AP) - A man from Effingham is renovating a 75-year-old downtown landmark and hopes to sell it.

Tad Sligar is an Effingham High School alumnus who now lives in South Carolina. He hopes to find a local buyer for the Heart Theater once it's fixed up.

The Effingham Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/1w3isnZ ) that Sligar has converted the structure - vacant for a decade - to an open floor plan suitable for several uses. If he can't sell it, Sligar might rent it as a reception hall.

Sligar says he doesn't believe the building can successfully house another movie theater.

Newspaper accounts indicate the theater seated 750 when it opened Jan. 18, 1940. Experts consider the exterior a fine example of pre-World War II Art Deco architecture.

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Information from: Effingham Daily News, http://www.effinghamdailynews.com

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