The Venice Nokomis Presbyterian Drive In Church opened in March, 1954.. It was located at 111 East Firenze Avenue Venice.  It was designed by famed architect Victor Lundy.  It was his first commission. The design allowed parishioners to attend services from their cars using portable window speakers.  This innovative design gained national attention when it was featured in Life Magazine in April, 1955.

     Origins. Facing a growing population but lacking funds to        build a traditional sanctuary, the fledgling congregation           purchased  8.5 acres on Venice Island for $27,500. The                 builders were members of the congregation. The area where     the drive in church was located now is the brick and mortar      sanctuary ,the glass walled chapel and paved parking lots        of the Venice Presbyterian Church

     The Design.  The project cost only $7500.  The structure             was wooden.  There was a lower level Sunday School.  The         upper level was open air.   It had the pulpit, choir and                 organ.  Sliding glass doors opened to face a garden                       sanctuary where worshippers parked.

     End of an era.  The Drive In fad eventually faded. Following      damage in the mid  1960’s (often cited as Hurricane Alma          in  1996).the wooden pavilion was dismantled)

  In 1965, the congregation transitioned completely to  an         indoor chapel also designed by Victor Lundy which eventually evolved into the permanent church campus on the island.

     This building is located at  117  Church Street Champaign, Illinois.  It was originally built in 1905 . It The builders were Charlie and Elizabeth Russell.  The architect was unknown.  Its appearance was like standard early 20th century  commercial.store front.

     A simple retail layout.  Commercial Design.  The building was constructed entirely for retail. It featured large glass display windows on the.ground floor to showcase goods to people walking by on west Church Street.

     Open Floor Plan. The interior lacked a stage,.sloped floors or theater seating.  It was just a wide, flat open commercial space designed to hold store counters and merchandise

     Two Story Brick Structure. It was built as a sturdy multi story commercial block.  The ground floor was used for commerce, while the upper floor provided space for storage or offices.      

    Early Retail Shops (1905–1915) 

     General Merchandise  and Retail.Stores.  Charles and  Elizabeth Russell built the           structure as a multi-story commercial  and retail block

     The First Retailers :The ground floor was divided into small storefronts that housed local retail stores and shops serving downtown Champaign

In 1915, Charles Fenton Hamilton had a large portion of Russell Building rebuilt. Construction of the New Theater began in spring of 1915. The theater would be large enough to stage the best productions on the road. The.General Contractor for the job was A.W.Stoolman.. The plastering was done.by a Danville firm.  Frank Price had the decorating contract. J.W. Swartz of Urbana had the electrical contract. Roy Gallagher of Urbana had the steam fitting,, plumbing and and heating contract. The scenery was by Knox and Luny of Saint Louis. A Chicago firm furnished the leather upholstery chairs for the lower floor and the first balcony.

     The house could seat1,420 people.(700 seats in the lower floor and the rest divided between the two balcolnies. The auditorium was wide but not very deep. The stage was unusually large.  It was 34 feet deep and 70 feet wide

     The Belvoir opened on November 23, 1915.  The staff included owners manager  C.F. Hamilton Eugene Russell treasurer\business manager,Emil Loehr stage manager Elmer Murphy in charge of properties, and Billy Casad in charge of orchestra.

     The 1918-1919 season opened on.Monday  September 9 1918 with A change in the name of theater. The old Belvoir became the Rialto.

     Thae Rialto  Theater was a historic  movie  palace located at 123 West Church Street in Champaign, Illinois.  It was constructed in 1905 as the Russell Building.  In 1915 it was repurposed into a theater called Belvoir. In 1918, it was renamed the Rialto in September

     The original theater construction in 1915 was A.W. Stoolman.  The original theater was completely gutted and rebuilt from the ground up.

       The Eagle Creek Reservoir Dam is one of the largest dams in Indiana.  It measures 75 feet tall and 5,100 feet long.It is located on the southwest edge of the reservoir near west 38th Street and Dandy Trail.  It was built primarily for flood control following a devastating local flood in 1957.  Construction took place from 1966 to 1969.  This allowed the reservoir valley to fill with water.  This reservoir is a 1,300 acre lake.

 

financiale Cattle Bank building is located at 102 E. University Avenue Champaign, Il. It was built in 1858. It is  the oldest documented commercial building in.Champaign, Illinois. It was built by William N.Coler and William G. Hubbard. They were prominent local businessmen, attorneys and real estate developers.

     The specific individual who was the architect is unknown.  Mr. Coler and Mr. Hubbard may have had a role in the design of the building.

     The building style is Italianate.

Key Visual Features

     Flat Rooflime: features a low pitched roof hidden behind a   prominent, decorative cornice

      Tall Windows:  Uses narrow, vertically elongated windows  with openings common to the mid Victorian era.

       Brick Masonry: Built using local, red clay bricks fired  directly in early Champaign.

Chronological History of Occupants

     The Cattle Bank (1858-1861).  Built originally a branch of  the Grand Prairie Bank of Urbana,  it operated as a financial hub for regional livestock ranchers until.an agricultural      collapse forced its cloxure.

      Mineral Water Manufactory   ( 1865–1870’s)

      Following the Civil War, local entrepreneur Nicolas Miller  adapted the space into a production facility for manufacturing carbonated mineral water
         Early Pharmacy and Grocery (1870-1893)  The property was leased out and functioned as   a combined neighborhood drugstore and grocery market

     McGraw Grocery (1893-1936)  Purchased by the McGraw      family, the building served as a staple downtown grocery shop for over 4 decades

    Kuesink’s Drug Store (1936-1951). Local pharmacist William Kuesink bought the property and converted it back into a    pharmacy , serving the community for 15 years.

     Heimlich here’s Sundries (1951-1971). The final commercial business to occupy the space was a community drugstore and sundries shop.  It operated continuously until a catastrophic fire gutted the interior in 1971ending the building’s retail era.
 

     

     The Champaign City Building (City hall) is located at 102 N. Neil Street Champaign, Il.  Cornerstone was laid in 1935.  Construction was completed in 1937. It was built as a New Deal Project.  It was partially funded with a federal Grant from the Public Works Administration.  Construction costs were $210,000.  The architect was George Ramey.  Building style was Art Deco.

     Main tower spans 6 floors.  Open opening, the city Council chambers were on the 5th floor.  They are now on the first floor.

     The exterior walls are clad in  light toned blond brick.  This was chosen to make the building stand out from the red brick buildings throughout downtown Champaign.

     Bedford limestone is used extensively for structural trim  and detailing.

     The pyramidal shaped roof capping  the six story tower is clad in copper.  This was deep brown color when it was installed.  Over the years this converted to a light green color

     Reinforced concrete was used

     Basement and footings.  The heavy weight of the building’s stone and brick facade rests entirely on massive, poured in place reinforced concrete footings.

     Retaining walls

    The underground basement level, which houses.mechanical equipment and city archives, utilizes reinforced concrete walls to hold back the surrounding soil and resists ground water pressure

Internal.skeleton

   Floor slabs: the floors separating the basement, main level, and upper chambers are constructed of reinforced concrete slabs.  This provides fire proofing between floors and prevents the building from vibrating.     

    Support columns: hidden behind the decorative interior plaster, a skeleton of reinforced concrete or concrete encased steel  columns transfers the weight of the upper floors and copper roof  structure down to the earth

     

     

     The Virginia Theater is located at 203 West Park Avenue Champaign, Illinois. Construction was begun early in 1921 and it opened on December 28, 1921. The builder and general c was contractor was Almond Whitfield Stoolman.  Building costs were $400,000.  The architect was C. Howard Crane and the architectural firm of Gill and Jackson. The architectural style was a blend of Spanish Renaissance and Italian Renaissance Revival.

     The building’s exterior feature classic brick facade accessory cream colored terra cotta details.

Key Exterior Elements

     The arched windows: Three large, two story arched windows dominate the upper facade framed by ornate terra cotta molding.

     The Marquee: A prominent, brightly lit Art Deco canopy hangs over the sidewalk, which was added during a 1939 RKO remodel to  replace the 1921 original.

       The Materials: Red-brown pressed brick forms the main structure, contrasted sharply by the white tile accents.

     The Cresting: ornamental terra cotta shield motifs and a decorative corn ice line the very top edge of the building.

    Seating was 817 main floor and balcony 646 seats.  During reeling the number of seats was reduced.

Timeline of theater ownership

Charles CC Pyle and A.W. Stoolman.(1921-:1930)

     The promoter was CC Pyle.  He partnered with A.W. Stoolmam.  They were joint owners

RKO Pictures (1930- 1967) The major Hollywood studio held a       long-term commercial lease and operational control over        the venue for nearly four decades

The Stoolman–Julian.family (1967–1968) A.W. Stoolman’s        Elizabeth Virginia Stool man and her husband briefly                 reclaimed direct control