{"nrhp_refnum":"94000977","name":"Arcada Theater Building","other_names":["The Arcada"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"105 E. Main St. and 1st Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"St. Charles","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":41.91369718100003,"lon":-88.31210581999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-08-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, L-shaped commercial and theater building at the southeast corner of Main Street and First Avenue in downtown St. Charles, Kane County, Illinois, built in 1926 and designed by Chicago architect Elmer F. Behrns.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the Arcada is locally significant under Criterion A for entertainment because it provided continuous live and film entertainment from its 1926 opening, including vaudeville. It is significant under Criterion C as a fine small-town movie palace and an atmospheric theater in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, shaped by architect Behrns and owner-builder Lester J. Norris.","narrative":"Built in 1926 at the corner of Main Street and First Avenue in downtown St. Charles, the Arcada is a three-story brick and terra cotta building that combined shops, offices, a Masonic hall, a tea room and a 1,009-seat theater. Chicago architect Elmer F. Behrns designed it in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, and local owner Lester J. Norris, an artist, acted as general contractor and spent $500,000 on it. Norris designed details such as the carved Indian head capitals and imported iron gates for the foyer. A 1943 renovation turned the two-story arcade into an Art Moderne space while the exterior, auditorium and upper floors kept their original character. The Arcada opened on Labor Day 1926 with a silent film and vaudeville acts, and it kept vaudeville long after most theaters had dropped it. Its entertainment history and its atmospheric theater design are the reasons it was recognized. The period of significance runs from 1926 to 1944.","period_of_significance":"1926 - 1944","architect_builder":"Behrns, Elmer F. / Architect; Norris, Lester J. / Builder","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival; Moderne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Entertainment use has continued to the present, with only two brief interruptions for remodeling. The arcade was changed to Art Moderne in 1943, and the theater was still operating as a movie theater at the time of the nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.73498-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/8932/28893220/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/94000977.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000977/98e5482394-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000977/98e5482394-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"G LeTourneau","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arcada_Theater_Building_(St._Charles,_IL)_02.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">G LeTourneau</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arcada_Theater_Building_(St._Charles,_IL)_02.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893220","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcada_Theater_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4785050"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/arcada-theater-building-94000977/"}