You say you agree with Melders, like when he said the ‘friends’ should be partly held responsible AND that he didn’t agree with your current tactics (Scroll up 9 posts please).
Perhaps you should attempt this strategy: Because your group has burned way too many bridges, restoration of the theatre has a slim-to-none chance, and slim has walked out the door. The “friends” should step down, let Florey and Gron (pro-theatre trustees) appoint a new panel made up of new Lombard taxpaying residents, mix it up with people on both sides of the fence. No ex-friends! Put engineers, lawyers, Charlotte St. residents, construction people, artist, singers, whatever else, a mix of people.
Lay their simple agenda out for them, give them 30, 60, 90 (whatever) days to come up with a new plan, one that doesn’t rely so much on tax dollars. A plan that meets current code. If they come up with a solution, the theatre gets saved, if not then the inevitable happens. This strategy works. It gives the theatre one last chance, which it will not have with the current regime in place.
Face it, your group stinks. Six years of Egans dreadfully boring speeches, your unprofessional theatrics (asking and answering you own questions…please!), Alvarado’s threats of lawsuits, and Kramer’s silence speech. You ‘friends’ make me and everybody else in town chuckle. You have lost respect and now the theatre is doomed. You failed miserably, that’s a fact.
Drop your giant ego’s, quit blaming other people, and stop with the political threats. All one has to do is read your latest post and see what the ‘friends’ current agenda is….cover your own a*s, and find a fall guy.
By the way, DuPagedude is our local Village Idiot…even though he moved out of our Village in a bit of shame…after his political career went down the toilet. Now he has a agenda, and it’s not really the theatre. He just uses it as a pawn.
As quoted above:
“Beware of DuPage Dude – he is a former friend of the DuPage Theatre who was asked to leave the organization due to bad behavior that damaged their cause. His incoherent ramblings of under the table deals and conspiracy theories are as ridiculous as he is.”
DuPageDude…By the way it’s ‘website’ not ‘websute’…what a genius you are!!!
Oh and it’s ‘Village’ not ‘Vilage'
Oh and it’s 'especially’ not ‘especialy'
Oh and it’s 'unconnected’ not ‘unconected'
oh and it’s 'politicians’ not ‘politicans'
Who need the grammar books now?
An “overwhelming majority”…what are you smoking? 60 people showed up for their rally and there are only about 100 signs up in a town of 44,000. How could you say an overwhelming majority? Grasping for straws aren’t we.
Melders, the Theatre was voted down in June, there was plenty of time between October 2004 and June 2005 to have fundraisers, but as someone tied to their group was once quoted “why have fundraisers when the taxpayers will foot the bill.” We can agree to disagree.
Dupagedude, there is no way to get a referendum for November and April 2006 is the only chance to do that. The friends will find some way to extend it and get it thrown off the ballot while they search for ways to get $$$. 2005 turns into 2006..then 2007. Now we are talking ten years (really 20), The building won’t hold out that long.
As far as the voters are concerned, two just got voted in and have 3 years to go. Last election 2 of 3 Trustees and Village President ran unopposed. My guess is that their political careers won’t be effected too much. Besides only 5% or 6% of registered voters signed their petition.
I have your facts straight on what you have said. I never questioned you on your opinion of the city not paying for it. But why do you attack me all the time? Your opinions of me are all wrong. There are thousands of people who support my same opinions and only a couple dozen who don’t.
All one has to do is scroll up and read Deb Dynako’s comments. I questioned quite a few of her comments and statements, discovered that her statements were incorrect or inaccurate, and now she soesn’t even post here anymore.
I could list all the ‘friends’ inaccuracies, but I already have. This group in charge of preservation has dropped the ball. Demolition of this building can be (and will be) squarely blamed on them. All they have done for the last 4 months is point the finger at everybody else. They know it is coming down and they want to save face.
Melders do you think a group that has NOT had a fundraiser in 11 months, and has turned to name-calling, threats, lies, and bashing our local politicians should be defended by you? Or should local citizens and taxpayers, who in their very right to do so, be able to question their tactics?
You don’t know anything about me. I supported this project in the beginning, and I would support it again if somebody cut a check for about $9 million.
If you are such a “lover of old theater and also am very interested in historic preservation” please tell the rest of us how much you have donated to the DuPage. I have donated which makes me more of a “preservationist” than you are apparently.
Talk is cheap melders, and unless you are a Lombard taxpayer I suggest that you get your facts straight before you make assumptions.
who are these “anti-preservation people” you speak of? Are they an organized group? Do they meet? You seem to know so much about them.
Melders are you from Lombard? Have you followed this situation for 7 years? Did you attend their last fundraiser 11 month’s ago? How much $$ did you contribute?
respect is a two-way street, all one has to do is check yesterday’s local newpaper. The people you say “who vigoursly kept the restoration efforts alive” keep bashing our local Trustees, and seem hell-bent on dividing the town.
They did not not keep the “restoration efforts alive” they just prolonged them.
Here you go people, DuPageDude is a rogue member with his own agenda. He could care less about the theatre, he is just out to get a Trustee, and he uses the theatre a pawn. As far as his three points above; 1. the Friends don’t update their “roster” unless they are adding people, and considering their numbers are dwindling they certainly aren’t taking him off. 2. The only press releases they have are about the theatre, not some guy they do not include anymore. 3. Any Lombard resident can be nominated for “MOTY”, all you have to do is fill out a form, winning is another thing though.
You guys talk of conspiracy theories when the real truth is quoted above; “[The village] has spent $560,000 and five years to see if this was doable. And after that, what we have is an unsafe, crumbling demolition site.”
They forgot to mention that only a couple hundred people support this thing. Of that bricks are falling off a wall as recently as last week.
Melders, That’s the problem here, you comment “this is not really a anti-tax issue, but an anti-theater issue” is not true for most people I know.
This theatre debacle started in 1987. Then we all thought it would be saved in 1997 or 1998 with Big Ideas and everybody supported that plan, but it fell through. The rest has been like a snowball rolling downhill. First there was an ad-hoc committee and talk of $4 million, then the ‘friends’ came along and then the ‘foundation’, which one was which? Then the cost ballooned to $6 million, and then $8.5 million, which means that $10 or $12 million were not that far off.
I am not “anti-theatre”!!! All I have done was question the motives of the people in charge of fundraising. Lies, threats, name-calling, finger-pointing, just to name a few. Their last fundraiser was 11 months ago. Their other fundraisers were bringing hundreds of $$ when they needed millions of $$.
It was pure insanity, plain and simple. The Village gave then extension after extension, as one trustee put it, “this is the 11th hour, but it seems like everything about this theatre is the 11th hour.” Well times up, like it or not, and unless somebody cuts a check for $8 million in the next couple of weeks, the fat lady will be performing for the last time.
Congrats, two straight bad comments…never claimed to have a crystal ball. You were the one who said all our children will become criminals because the theatre is coming down. If that comment had any validity our town would be one of the worst towns in the state seeing that not a single teenager alive has ever been there. The place has been closed for the last several years.
I surrender to your vast knowledge of sociologic behavior.
your comments are assumptions (or just stupid opinions), nobody under the age of twenty has ever been to this place. Yet we have no gang activity, very little vandalism, etc…. That has been the problem with this project from the beginning. “Build it and they will come” worked in the movie ‘field of dreams’ but it doesn’t fly in a town where property taxes have skyrocketed, schools are running out of money, and I don’t have to even mention the impending gas crisis.
Robert R, you are correct, there are 4 other restored theatres in a 6 mile radius we can go to, all 5 minutes away. So we won’t have to hear about it anymore.
Trust me the site is not big enough for a Walmart. As far as my children are concerned, explain to me how an old crumbling building is/was “history”. Nobody under the age of 10 has ever been inside this place and hardly anybody under 20 will ever remember it.
Melders, it probably won’t cost more than $100K to tear down. Better to be out $100K, than $8.5 Million. Besides the Village will profit by the sale of the property.
September 1, 2005, The board, which has already voted to end preservation efforts, voted on rejecting a $296,000 federal grant and a $1 million state grant that’s been frozen.
As for the Demolition, (that’s with a “T” melders) the Village has $900,000 from the TIF already in the bank to pay for it. Seeing that more bricks fell off the building just days ago demolition should come easy.
One comment I have to make is that a lot of the stuff we have read on this website (and other websites) posted by friends has not been 100% accurate. Their amount of support, amount of money they have, etc. have been blown out of proportion.
All one has to do is go to the top of this page and scroll down to about the 18th post from a Tribune article from 10 months ago. How about “$6.5 million” or “The first stages of the project are expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2005,…with the entire venue scheduled to be operating and self-sustaining by the end of 2007.” Both statements are inaccurate as the cost has ballooned to over $8.5 million and the only to be completed by December 31 will be demolition.
All we have heard was broken promises from a group of people (the ‘friends’) who somebody quoted as “egos and fanatical ranting and false accusations have done them in.”
Then a group of citizen’s, including myself, started questioning their tactics and we are branded “anti-theatre” or even “anti-preservationist” which both are ridiculous statements. Speaking on behalf of a large group I can say we are FOR preservation, but against a taxpayer funded theatre.
CVB tell us to get off this website, why so the friends can fill your heads with more mistruths and invalid propaganda?? I am sure the creators of this website are aware of what is going on with the Dupe. I am also sure that they don’t support “preservation at any costs” like the ‘friends’ do.
As long as this group keeps their ranting and raving, their threats, their crying, their false accusations, etc…we the majority will keep fighting against them.
One last statement, their last fundraiser was last October…11 months ago!
“Rumor has it the ‘friends’ of the theatre had their sump pump removed from the building. This building has a history of flooding. Why would they put the theatre in harm’s way?”
We were told this was a rumor, but it turns out that this is true. A VOL employee confirmed it. Apparently it was their so-called preservation leader of the group. Strange tactics they have used.
It is on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Somebody needs to explain how a 59 year old (in 1987)building got put on the list in the first place.
From what I have been told; Classic Cinemas said the building was in too much disrepair and they said it was not fiscally viable. Apparently other private ventures felt the same way.
Fiscal Insanity; It was just a normal Board meeting, nothing about the theatre was on the agenda seeing that they already voted on the theatre in June. But the ‘friends’ paraded another group of people up to the podium during public participation to talk about the same old stuff. One friend suggested we tear everything down and sell-out…the Village President cut his ramblings short and called him ‘silly’.
Deb nothing I say has been truthful?!?!? Please wasn’t it you who stretched the truth about the 4500 signatures? List what I haven’t been truthful about.
DupageDude I’ll answer your 4 questions No, No, No, and No.
They have lied about support for 6 years now. First they said it was 5000 people. Now they say there are 1000 signs in our town showing support. Everybody knows that is a lie. That’s like 1 in 10 houses or two sign per block. All one has to do is drive around town and see that the signs are scattered sporadically at best..maybe 200 total.
All one had to do is watch the August 18th Board meeting and watch one supporter who was asked to leave the podium and then chastised for being ‘silly’ because of his endless ramblings.
My good buddy Deb,
Welcome back! You must have been out fundraising!
You say you agree with Melders, like when he said the ‘friends’ should be partly held responsible AND that he didn’t agree with your current tactics (Scroll up 9 posts please).
Perhaps you should attempt this strategy: Because your group has burned way too many bridges, restoration of the theatre has a slim-to-none chance, and slim has walked out the door. The “friends” should step down, let Florey and Gron (pro-theatre trustees) appoint a new panel made up of new Lombard taxpaying residents, mix it up with people on both sides of the fence. No ex-friends! Put engineers, lawyers, Charlotte St. residents, construction people, artist, singers, whatever else, a mix of people.
Lay their simple agenda out for them, give them 30, 60, 90 (whatever) days to come up with a new plan, one that doesn’t rely so much on tax dollars. A plan that meets current code. If they come up with a solution, the theatre gets saved, if not then the inevitable happens. This strategy works. It gives the theatre one last chance, which it will not have with the current regime in place.
Face it, your group stinks. Six years of Egans dreadfully boring speeches, your unprofessional theatrics (asking and answering you own questions…please!), Alvarado’s threats of lawsuits, and Kramer’s silence speech. You ‘friends’ make me and everybody else in town chuckle. You have lost respect and now the theatre is doomed. You failed miserably, that’s a fact.
Drop your giant ego’s, quit blaming other people, and stop with the political threats. All one has to do is read your latest post and see what the ‘friends’ current agenda is….cover your own a*s, and find a fall guy.
By the way, DuPagedude is our local Village Idiot…even though he moved out of our Village in a bit of shame…after his political career went down the toilet. Now he has a agenda, and it’s not really the theatre. He just uses it as a pawn.
As quoted above:
“Beware of DuPage Dude – he is a former friend of the DuPage Theatre who was asked to leave the organization due to bad behavior that damaged their cause. His incoherent ramblings of under the table deals and conspiracy theories are as ridiculous as he is.”
DuPageDude…By the way it’s ‘website’ not ‘websute’…what a genius you are!!!
Oh and it’s ‘Village’ not ‘Vilage'
Oh and it’s 'especially’ not ‘especialy'
Oh and it’s 'unconnected’ not ‘unconected'
oh and it’s 'politicians’ not ‘politicans'
Who need the grammar books now?
An “overwhelming majority”…what are you smoking? 60 people showed up for their rally and there are only about 100 signs up in a town of 44,000. How could you say an overwhelming majority? Grasping for straws aren’t we.
Melders, the Theatre was voted down in June, there was plenty of time between October 2004 and June 2005 to have fundraisers, but as someone tied to their group was once quoted “why have fundraisers when the taxpayers will foot the bill.” We can agree to disagree.
Dupagedude, there is no way to get a referendum for November and April 2006 is the only chance to do that. The friends will find some way to extend it and get it thrown off the ballot while they search for ways to get $$$. 2005 turns into 2006..then 2007. Now we are talking ten years (really 20), The building won’t hold out that long.
As far as the voters are concerned, two just got voted in and have 3 years to go. Last election 2 of 3 Trustees and Village President ran unopposed. My guess is that their political careers won’t be effected too much. Besides only 5% or 6% of registered voters signed their petition.
Melders,
I have your facts straight on what you have said. I never questioned you on your opinion of the city not paying for it. But why do you attack me all the time? Your opinions of me are all wrong. There are thousands of people who support my same opinions and only a couple dozen who don’t.
All one has to do is scroll up and read Deb Dynako’s comments. I questioned quite a few of her comments and statements, discovered that her statements were incorrect or inaccurate, and now she soesn’t even post here anymore.
I could list all the ‘friends’ inaccuracies, but I already have. This group in charge of preservation has dropped the ball. Demolition of this building can be (and will be) squarely blamed on them. All they have done for the last 4 months is point the finger at everybody else. They know it is coming down and they want to save face.
Melders do you think a group that has NOT had a fundraiser in 11 months, and has turned to name-calling, threats, lies, and bashing our local politicians should be defended by you? Or should local citizens and taxpayers, who in their very right to do so, be able to question their tactics?
Melders,
You don’t know anything about me. I supported this project in the beginning, and I would support it again if somebody cut a check for about $9 million.
If you are such a “lover of old theater and also am very interested in historic preservation” please tell the rest of us how much you have donated to the DuPage. I have donated which makes me more of a “preservationist” than you are apparently.
Talk is cheap melders, and unless you are a Lombard taxpayer I suggest that you get your facts straight before you make assumptions.
Melder,
who are these “anti-preservation people” you speak of? Are they an organized group? Do they meet? You seem to know so much about them.
Melders are you from Lombard? Have you followed this situation for 7 years? Did you attend their last fundraiser 11 month’s ago? How much $$ did you contribute?
duper supporter,
respect is a two-way street, all one has to do is check yesterday’s local newpaper. The people you say “who vigoursly kept the restoration efforts alive” keep bashing our local Trustees, and seem hell-bent on dividing the town.
They did not not keep the “restoration efforts alive” they just prolonged them.
Here you go people, DuPageDude is a rogue member with his own agenda. He could care less about the theatre, he is just out to get a Trustee, and he uses the theatre a pawn. As far as his three points above; 1. the Friends don’t update their “roster” unless they are adding people, and considering their numbers are dwindling they certainly aren’t taking him off. 2. The only press releases they have are about the theatre, not some guy they do not include anymore. 3. Any Lombard resident can be nominated for “MOTY”, all you have to do is fill out a form, winning is another thing though.
They did, the building was tuckpointed a couple years back.
You guys talk of conspiracy theories when the real truth is quoted above; “[The village] has spent $560,000 and five years to see if this was doable. And after that, what we have is an unsafe, crumbling demolition site.”
They forgot to mention that only a couple hundred people support this thing. Of that bricks are falling off a wall as recently as last week.
Melders, That’s the problem here, you comment “this is not really a anti-tax issue, but an anti-theater issue” is not true for most people I know.
This theatre debacle started in 1987. Then we all thought it would be saved in 1997 or 1998 with Big Ideas and everybody supported that plan, but it fell through. The rest has been like a snowball rolling downhill. First there was an ad-hoc committee and talk of $4 million, then the ‘friends’ came along and then the ‘foundation’, which one was which? Then the cost ballooned to $6 million, and then $8.5 million, which means that $10 or $12 million were not that far off.
I am not “anti-theatre”!!! All I have done was question the motives of the people in charge of fundraising. Lies, threats, name-calling, finger-pointing, just to name a few. Their last fundraiser was 11 months ago. Their other fundraisers were bringing hundreds of $$ when they needed millions of $$.
It was pure insanity, plain and simple. The Village gave then extension after extension, as one trustee put it, “this is the 11th hour, but it seems like everything about this theatre is the 11th hour.” Well times up, like it or not, and unless somebody cuts a check for $8 million in the next couple of weeks, the fat lady will be performing for the last time.
DuPageDude, I see in my crystal ball a bulldozer plowing the building down…soon.
Every town has crime…genius…Naperville was voted the 3rd best town to live in the U.S. and look at their Police Blotter. Way bigger than ours.
Do any of those crimes sound like felonies?
Corvetteguy
Congrats, two straight bad comments…never claimed to have a crystal ball. You were the one who said all our children will become criminals because the theatre is coming down. If that comment had any validity our town would be one of the worst towns in the state seeing that not a single teenager alive has ever been there. The place has been closed for the last several years.
I surrender to your vast knowledge of sociologic behavior.
Corvetteguy,
your comments are assumptions (or just stupid opinions), nobody under the age of twenty has ever been to this place. Yet we have no gang activity, very little vandalism, etc…. That has been the problem with this project from the beginning. “Build it and they will come” worked in the movie ‘field of dreams’ but it doesn’t fly in a town where property taxes have skyrocketed, schools are running out of money, and I don’t have to even mention the impending gas crisis.
Robert R, you are correct, there are 4 other restored theatres in a 6 mile radius we can go to, all 5 minutes away. So we won’t have to hear about it anymore.
Trust me the site is not big enough for a Walmart. As far as my children are concerned, explain to me how an old crumbling building is/was “history”. Nobody under the age of 10 has ever been inside this place and hardly anybody under 20 will ever remember it.
Melders, it probably won’t cost more than $100K to tear down. Better to be out $100K, than $8.5 Million. Besides the Village will profit by the sale of the property.
September 1, 2005, The board, which has already voted to end preservation efforts, voted on rejecting a $296,000 federal grant and a $1 million state grant that’s been frozen.
As for the Demolition, (that’s with a “T” melders) the Village has $900,000 from the TIF already in the bank to pay for it. Seeing that more bricks fell off the building just days ago demolition should come easy.
Melders, please explain what ‘money’ we are throwing away.
Here’s the latest update for all:
View link
One comment I have to make is that a lot of the stuff we have read on this website (and other websites) posted by friends has not been 100% accurate. Their amount of support, amount of money they have, etc. have been blown out of proportion.
All one has to do is go to the top of this page and scroll down to about the 18th post from a Tribune article from 10 months ago. How about “$6.5 million” or “The first stages of the project are expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2005,…with the entire venue scheduled to be operating and self-sustaining by the end of 2007.” Both statements are inaccurate as the cost has ballooned to over $8.5 million and the only to be completed by December 31 will be demolition.
All we have heard was broken promises from a group of people (the ‘friends’) who somebody quoted as “egos and fanatical ranting and false accusations have done them in.”
Then a group of citizen’s, including myself, started questioning their tactics and we are branded “anti-theatre” or even “anti-preservationist” which both are ridiculous statements. Speaking on behalf of a large group I can say we are FOR preservation, but against a taxpayer funded theatre.
CVB tell us to get off this website, why so the friends can fill your heads with more mistruths and invalid propaganda?? I am sure the creators of this website are aware of what is going on with the Dupe. I am also sure that they don’t support “preservation at any costs” like the ‘friends’ do.
As long as this group keeps their ranting and raving, their threats, their crying, their false accusations, etc…we the majority will keep fighting against them.
One last statement, their last fundraiser was last October…11 months ago!
Back on August 17 I asked this question:
“Rumor has it the ‘friends’ of the theatre had their sump pump removed from the building. This building has a history of flooding. Why would they put the theatre in harm’s way?”
We were told this was a rumor, but it turns out that this is true. A VOL employee confirmed it. Apparently it was their so-called preservation leader of the group. Strange tactics they have used.
It is on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Somebody needs to explain how a 59 year old (in 1987)building got put on the list in the first place.
From what I have been told; Classic Cinemas said the building was in too much disrepair and they said it was not fiscally viable. Apparently other private ventures felt the same way.
Fiscal Insanity; It was just a normal Board meeting, nothing about the theatre was on the agenda seeing that they already voted on the theatre in June. But the ‘friends’ paraded another group of people up to the podium during public participation to talk about the same old stuff. One friend suggested we tear everything down and sell-out…the Village President cut his ramblings short and called him ‘silly’.
Deb nothing I say has been truthful?!?!? Please wasn’t it you who stretched the truth about the 4500 signatures? List what I haven’t been truthful about.
DupageDude I’ll answer your 4 questions No, No, No, and No.
They have lied about support for 6 years now. First they said it was 5000 people. Now they say there are 1000 signs in our town showing support. Everybody knows that is a lie. That’s like 1 in 10 houses or two sign per block. All one has to do is drive around town and see that the signs are scattered sporadically at best..maybe 200 total.
All one had to do is watch the August 18th Board meeting and watch one supporter who was asked to leave the podium and then chastised for being ‘silly’ because of his endless ramblings.