The Stardust Drive-In, at 375 N. 14th St., opened two weeks ago in Charleston, a town that hasn't had a drive-in theater in more than 25 years.
Owner Mark McSparin said he decided to open the theater because there aren't drive-in movie theaters nearby.
"I've had a couple of drive-ins in the past," he said.
McSparin currently owns and is leasing out the Salem Drive-In, he said.
Stardust will show double features seven nights a week this summer on one screen, but as the theater progresses, McSparin intends to add more screens.
Moviegoers can see and listen to the movie while in their cars or while sitting in lawn chairs with concessions available on site.
"It's good, cheap, family entertainment," he said.
Gates open at 7 p.m., and the first show starts at dusk. This week, Eddie Murphy's "Meet Dave" and "What Happens in Vegas" are playing at the theater until July 17.
Ticket prices are $6 for adults, $4 for children and free to children under age 3.
For more information, visit www.21stcinemas.com or call 345-5900.
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A prime piece of retail real estate near Pana is up for sale, and has been for some time.
The two acre parcel just off Illinois 16 close to the intersection with U.S. 51 houses Karla's Kollectibles & Antique Mall, the Dutch Mill Flea Market, a four-bedroom home, a double wide trailer, two garages and a big storage building. The land and buildings have been on the market for about nine months.
The entire property is owned by sisters Karla Stepping and Joyce Sparling, who inherited them from their late father, Carl Sparling. Joyce Sparling, who lives in Decatur and also runs the flea market, said it's time to retire, but the problem is finding a buyer when the economy is tough. She believes the sales job would be much easier if the long awaited U.S. 51 four lane improvement project, currently stalled on the north side of Assumption, would finally get built all the way down to Illinois 16.
"That highway is my problem," Sparling said. "This would be a really prime property if they got working on that road."
The asking price is $300,000, but Sparling said that is negotiable. She said the new owners could take over the businesses, too, if they wished, or clear the site and develop it into something different.
Gerald Stepping, Karla Stepping's ex-husband, runs Karla's with a business partner and says he is waiting to see what the future holds and whether they will have to relocate.
"Right now, we don't have anywhere to relocate to," he said.
For information about the property, contact Phil Dressen Real Estate on 562-3848.
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Circa 1860 may be about to serve up a fresh course in its history.
The Decatur restaurant, housed in a sumptuous Victorian home at 411 W. Main St., has been closed since May 31 after the business partners who ran it, Rhonda Glidewell, Lynn Potter and Claudia Williams, put it up for sale.
But Glidewell confirmed Thursday that a sale was pending and the new potential owners, described as a local couple, plan to reopen the restaurant and add dinners to the previous menu. If all the necessary financing falls into place, Glidewell said the deal could be finalized by the end of this week.
The three women, who run a company that specializes in fixing up and selling antique homes, say they want to concentrate now on that business. "And we're in the process of bidding on a home," Glidewell added.
On Biz, published Fridays in the Herald & Review, highlights business developments. Contact Tony Reid at treid@ herald-review.com or 421-7977 or Chris Lusvardi at clusvardi@herald-review.com or 421-7972. Theresa Churchill and Alicia Spates contributed to this report.
Posted in On_biz on Friday, July 11, 2008 12:00 am Updated: 2:28 pm.
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