The Elm Theater was located at Liberty (Route 176) and Mill Streets in Wauconda. It opened in 1950 with seating for 610 people, and parking for 125 cars.
Photo of the Elm Theater taken in 1950, the year the theater opened. This image was used by the Teich Company for their Wauconda large letter postcard (below). Teich Archives OCH1780.
Large letter postcard featuring Wauconda landmarks, including the Elm Theater in the letter "U". Curt Teich postcard, 1950. OCH1780.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, the theater's movie listings appeared regularly in the Daily Herald.
In 1967, Transfiguration Catholic Church purchased the theater. Church officials bought the property because they feared "purchase by others would hinder the expansion program of the church."
Initially, the theater was staffed by church members who volunteered as ushers and cashiers. Later, the church leased it to Leonard Deasey, whose children and their friends worked the concessions and ticket booth.
Transfiguration Catholic Church, circa 1935. LCDM M-86.1.7121.
Because of the church's control, the content of the movies shown changed. Many parents were pleased that only movies permitted under the National Legion of Decency Code were shown.
Established in 1933, the National Legion of Decency was an organization dedicated to identifying and combating objectionable content in motion pictures, from the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. For several decades, the Legion wielded great power in the American motion picture industry.
In 1984, the theater was torn down. The reason given for razing it was that Transfiguration "could no longer subsidize it." The new church was built on this site.
Earlier this year, an original sign from the Elm Theater (above) was donated by Glen Halverson to the Lake County Discovery Museum. LCDM 2012.4.