The Century 12 Evanston/CineArts 6 and XD in Evanston, Illinois hasn't shown movies since it closed in March 2020 due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, but the theater on Maple Avenue and Church Street will not reopen. At least not as a Cinemark location.

Located within blocks of Northwestern University, the theater originally opened in November 2000, and showed a mix of mainstream movies and arthouse fare in the split operation.

According to an article published in the Evanston RoundTable, Cinemark terminated its lease with the owner of the Church Street Plaza:

Century 12/Cinemark theatres and the Stockbridge Capital Group, the owner of the Church Street Plaza development at Church Street and Maple Avenue, have been in litigation for nearly the entire duration of the pandemic over a lease exit clause, officials confirmed.

  
“It really came down to a loophole in their lease agreement that allowed Cinemark to exit and terminate the lease,” said Paul Zalmezak, the City’s Economic Development Manager, on Feb. 22.

“The ownership disagreed and challenged them in court but the court agreed with Cinemark. Cinemark then terminated its lease,” he said.

According to the owners, there is no chance Cinemark will reconsider its decision and reopen, said Mr. Zalmezak.

Click the Read link below to view the full article.

We have several photos of the theater, which you can see on the Photo Gallery page for the Century 12 Evanston/CineArts 6 and XD.

Moviegoers in the area will need to visit one of the other nearby theaters, including the Block Cinema - Northwestern University in Evanston, the Wilmette Theatre in Wilmette, and the New 400 Theaters in Chicago.

Related News Articles

• Evanston’s Downtown Movie Theater Will Not Reopen -- Evanston RoundTable [Feb 22, 2021]
• Cinemark 18 closes, leaving downtown Evanston without a movie theater -- Chicago Tribune [Feb 23, 2021]
• As Cinemark Closes Three Major Theaters, More Are Likely to Follow -- IndieWire [Feb 24, 2021]

Thanks to reader Ron H. for sending us this information!