Businessman buys former theater from church

February 19, 2009

By Steve Eighinger

Quincy entrepreneur Dan Griffin has bought the former Adams Cinema building at Sixth and Hampshire.

Griffin, who owns numerous downtown properties, said he has two potential buyers for the two-story site. One is from the Quincy area and the other is from Texas.

Griffin bought the Sixth and Hampshire site for an estimated $79,000 from Faith Assembly of God Church. The Pentecostal church had used the building for several of its outreach ministries for about five years.

The building had been donated to the church by Kerasotes Theaters, which closed the property as a movie venue in 1999.

"There's a lot of interest in the site," Griffin said. "There are a couple of really good people looking at it."

Griffin said one of the potential buyers is looking to turn the building into a dinner and movie type of establishment as part of a national chain.

"The building is in great shape inside," Griffin said. "The Faith Assembly church did a great job. On the bottom floor, it is kind of split, with about half of the original seating still remaining, plus an open type of area."

Griffin said there will be some construction work done on the front of the property to help restore its original look.

Griffin said he worked with the Quincy branch of the Bank of Springfield and the Great River Economic Development Foundation in pulling the transaction together.

"This is another big plus for the (redevelopment of the) downtown area," Griffin said.

GREDF President Jim Mentesti said he expects Griffin to turn the property over in relatively fast fashion.

"Dan usually doesn't buy a property just because it's there or because he likes it," Mentesti said. "There's a lot of potential in that area. We still have a lot of empty storefronts, but what some of the naysayers are unaware of is what is going on behind the scenes."

The building at Sixth and Hampshire opened in 1913 as the Belasco Theater, which eventually closed in the early 1940s. It reopened when the Dickinson chain of theaters bought it in 1949. Kerasotes bought the site in 1969 and gave it the Adams Cinema name.

When Kerasotes opened the Showcase Cinema on 33rd Street in 1982, the renamed Adams Theater showed only second-run movies for $1 admission.