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Des Plaines Theatre to Host Halloween Events This Weekend
posted by
btkrefft
on
October 28, 2004 at 2:00 pm
DES PLAINES, IL — The Des Plaines Theatre Preservation Society is hosting Halloween-themed events this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the 1925 Des Plaines Theatre on Miner Street in downtown Des Plaines.
According to the Daily Herald, the Society will be featuring a 1910 version of “Frankenstein,” live Irish music, and costume contests among the various free events at the theater.
Society president Bryan Bean says, “It’s a taste of what we’d like to do. It’s an invitation for people to take a new look at an old treasure.”
The Des Plaines, which currently features Bollywood films on its two screens, is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, though its current owners haven’t moved forward yet with getting it listed.
The theater’s owners are, though, working with the Society to move forward with the former vaudeville house’s restoration, beginning with the marquee, a long-time symbol of Des Plaines' downtown. In return for the restoration work, the owners are allowing the Society to hold special events like the Halloween festivities as well as future live events and classic movie screenings at the theater.
Work on the 1935 marquee is coming along, including replacing the letters and the discovery of the original color scheme of the marquee, not the current white and red, but black and green. Neon tubing has also been replaced or repaired.
While about $15,000 has been raised towards the restoration effort thus far, the total cost of restoring the Des Plaines is estimated at $4.5 million.
