Stardust Drive-In article

From July 7, 2008:

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Article in Champaign daily The News-Gazette about the opening of the brand-new Stardust Drive-In near the intersection of Route 130 and 14th Street in Charleston, IL. (Remember that the direct link to this article will expire after Sunday, July 13.)

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Editor’s note: Woo! Maybe that fabled American pastime mixing movies with starry nights, picnics, lawn chairs, frisbees, and parking – yes indeed, smooth operator, I’m looking at you – isn’t quite dead after all. Good luck to owner Mark McSparin and company on the new venture! Everyone can keep up with the Stardust Drive-In‘s play dates at this Web site; the address is 375 N. 14th St., Charleston, and the show hotline is (217) 345-5900.

Examining the slightly bigger picture, McSparin’s 21st Century Cinemas company seems to be an experiment in managing Illinois theaters in smaller markets, although its strength in numbers is apparently limited. Information found on this Web site reveals that the Stardust joins the Plaza 4 in Dixon and the Roxy 6 in Ottawa as the company’s operational houses while Mac’s Drive-In of Salem is listed as being “under new management” and the Heart in Effingham (see item: 3/24/07) and Sterling Cinemas in Sterling are currently “for sale or lease.” We’ll trust that reasonable circumstances lie behind the 0.500 batting average and leave it at that.

These local vintage theaters aren’t the only ones up on the block, by the way. Check back with C-U Blogfidential later this week for the skinny about a development much closer to home.

~ Jason Pankoke

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