Gem Theatre, Cairo, IL

224 Eighth Street
Cairo, IL 62914
Opened 1910
Seats 685 (907?)

The Gem Theatre opened when Cairo, IL was still a bustling transportation hub. As the railroads bypassed the city and siphoned off river traffic, the town began a long, slow decline. The theatre was gutted by fire in 1934 but rebuilt two years later. The theatre finally closed in 1978 and after failed preservation efforts by the city and state in the 2000s, was in pretty desperate shape when I visited in 2011. (reference)

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