Genesee Theatre
203 N. Genesee Street,
Waukegan,
IL
60085
203 N. Genesee Street,
Waukegan,
IL
60085
12 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 52 comments
Here is the story Bryan refers to without having to Register, which is just a means to sell your name and address to dozens of others; they then profit from your lack of privacy.
Date: 10 Jan 2005 14:19:59 -0000
From:
To:
Subject: [Historic Movie Palaces] Digest Number 75
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 09:46:20 -0800 (PST)
From:
Subject: Waukegan theater a costly gem
This story was sent to you by: Louis Rugani
GENESEE, Waukegan Il.
Waukegan theater a costly gem
Genesee’s restoration price soars while revenue falls short
By Trine Tsouderos
Tribune staff reporter
January 9, 2005
With its domed ceiling and 18-foot crystal chandelier, the newly
restored Genesee Theatre was designed to be the crown jewel in a sweeping
revitalization of Waukegan’s moribund downtown.
But despite a gala opening last month with two sold-out shows by
comedian Bill Cosby, some residents are howling about decisions that nearly
doubled the project’s price while halving the number of shows initially
promised.
Originally envisioned as a moneymaker that would cost $14 million, pay
off the city’s bonds and draw 500,000 people annually, the
Waukegan-owned theater is now expected to operate in the red for years. Just a
handful of shows have been announced so far.
As money woes piled up—the costs ballooned to $24 million—so did
controversy. Ray Shepardson, a nationally known theater restoration expert
hired to run the project and book a packed year of shows, was fired
months before the opening.
Project critics, citing the cost overruns and construction delays that
plagued the theater restoration, now question the city’s ability to
handle an overhaul of its lakefront and downtown that would cost hundreds
of millions of public and private dollars.
“It’s almost mind-boggling,” said Newton Finn, legal counsel for the
local watchdog group, Taskforce on Waukegan Neighborhoods. “If that
project is run the same way, that project is doomed to fail.”
Pointing to, among other issues, a $13.2 million no-bid contract the
city awarded to a company run by sons of a project insider, the task
force has called for an independent audit of the Genesee finances.
From Chicago to Elgin to Hinsdale, city officials and preservationists
have attempted to revive similar old theaters, often with limited
success as money remains scarce and developers seek to turn them—and their
usually central locations—into condos, stores and office space.
These relics of the past are almost never preserved because turning a
profit can prove difficult and restoring them can be tricky, experts
say.
Waukegan officials and board members of the non-profit Friends of the
Historic Genesee Theatre, which raised money for the restoration,
acknowledge their project ran into trouble. But they also point to the
stunning result—a lavishly renovated theater that in October sold out
Cosby’s two shows in about three hours.
“It couldn’t be better,” said Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde.
The easy thing, said Waukegan director of governmental services Ray
Vukovich, would have been to allow the 77-year-old theater to decay and
eventually face a wrecking ball.
“Looking back, there are a lot of things I would recommend we would
have done differently, after you have been through this mess,” said
Vukovich, who oversaw the project for the city.
Waukegan officials blame the cost overruns on GSI Architects, a
Cleveland-based company the city hired to design the renovation, but then
fired as problems piled up. They also say the price tag grew as the seating
capacity was expanded.
Costs underestimated
Things went awry almost immediately. GSI underestimated how much the
project would cost, saying it could get the job done for $14 million.
“We found out how wrong” they were, said Hyde, who said he felt like he
was “gullible” in accepting GSI’s original estimates.
Many line items in GSI’s original budget wound up costing two or even
three times more than estimated. For example, GSI originally tagged the
stage and seating area expansion at $1.26 million. The work actually
cost about $3 million.
Representatives of GSI did not return calls.
For much of the project, Waukegan didn’t have a construction manager, a
situation that can lead to trouble, said Bruce D'Agostino, executive
director of the McLean, Va.-based Construction Management Association of
America, a national trade organization with 2,300 members.
A construction manager keeps tabs on costs, schedules and change orders
while working independently of architects and contractors, D'Agostino
said.
The fact the theater would cost $10 million more than initially
estimated took Vukovich by surprise when he first found out around April 2003,
two years after the project began.
One problem in determining what happened is the lack of change
orders—written authorizations of changes, which can significantly add to the
cost or deadline of a project. Vukovich said there are “none
whatsoever.”
Change orders were not used because contractors managed to stay within
their budgets and didn’t go back to the City Council for more money,
said architect Steve Kolber, who was hired by the city in 2003 to act as
a construction manager.
The problem, Kolber said, was that those budgets were larger than GSI
originally estimated.
Kolber, who admitted that the frequent delays that pushed back the
theater opening a year or more “technically” should have required change
orders, said there still is a paper trail —files of receipts and
payouts. “You can document exactly where all the monies went,” he said.
A few months after learning the project was over budget and behind, the
city fired GSI in the summer of 2003. Desperate to complete the work,
officials turned to local Pickus Companies, already a contractor on the
job.
Conflicts of interest seen
Waiving its bidding procedures in November 2003, the City Council voted
to enter into a contract of up to $13.2 million with Pickus Companies
run by sons of Friends board secretary Allan Pickus, even though another
company, St. Louis-based Clayco Construction, was preparing to submit a
proposal for $570,000 less. Calls to Allan Pickus were not returned.
Pickus companies officials would not comment.
City attorney Brian Grach said the City Council is allowed to waive bid
procedures with a two-thirds vote of the aldermen.
As Pickus Companies readied to finish the theater, they awarded a $1.9
million contract to install air conditioning and heating to low-bidder
Air-Con, a company run by Fred Abdula, a member of the Friends board
and board chairman until November 2003.
Those moves, and the no-bid contract, caused some residents to question
how board members so intimately involved with the project could benefit
from it financially.
“I am a little surprised that people who hold contracts for major
projects are allowed to be on the board,” said Cheryl Ptasienski, co-chair
of the Taskforce on Waukegan Neighborhoods. “To the general public, it
looks like a pretty big conflict of interest.”
As the city poured more money into the project, the Friends struggled
to raise $4 million to fund Shepardson’s plan to open with a debut
season of hundreds of shows. So far, the board has raised about $1.5
million.
With the theater’s opening looming, the Friends ousted Shepardson, who
says he is still owed $97,000 in back pay, and replaced him with SMG, a
Philadelphia-based company hired to run the venue.
In a management plan presented to the city in July, the company
announced it would start with 86 shows in the first year, with a deficit of
about $900,000 over the first four years. In the fifth year, SMG’s plan
shows a $17,000 profit for the city, with about 124 shows.
Meanwhile, the task force is calling for a public hearing to discuss
the cost overruns, Ptasienski said.
“The whole thing is that it is 200 percent over budget,” she said. “Two
hundred percent over budget is unrealistic without getting any
answers.”
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
Happy birthday to you…..Happy birthday to you…Happy birthday, dear Genessee, Happy birthday to you!-PeterH. aka Wheelie Man
The Genesee Theatre originally opened on 25th December 1927.
Happy 77th Birthday today!
Congrats to Waukegan! See? Miracles can happen. SMG is magic, too. Now how are the bills of $24 million going to be paid?
From: SuburbanChicagoNews.com
REBORN GENESEE ‘OPEN FOR BUSINESS’
Crowd-pleaser Bill Cosby ‘feeling good to be the first’
By Dan Moran,
staff writer
WAUKEGAN â€" The moment finally arrived just a few minutes late, with early arrivals already wrapped around the corner on a brisk Friday evening.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Genesee Theatre,” said Bob Papke of the SMG management group, cracking open the main lobby’s south doors. “The house is now open for business.”
Indeed it was, some 77 years after it first welcomed pre-Depression crowds and three years since the old was torn out to make way for the new. A full house slowly filed into the Genesee for a grand re-opening night that, from all accounts, lived up to expectations.
“It was fabulous,” said Phil Carrigan of Waukegan after watching headliner Bill Cosby hold the throng in his hands for a 90-minute opener. “I think everyone was excited just to be here.”
“You looked around,” said his wife, Mary Claire Jakes, “and everybody was just smiling.”
The magnitude of the event wasn’t lost on Cosby, who went out of his way early and often to pat his host city on the back.
“OK, OK. I’m here in — Mmmmm â€" Waukegan,“ Cosby said to sustained cheers after casually strolling onto the stage just after 6:30 p.m. "I am not — I am not â€" in Chicago. I’m in your own city."
As the crowd roared again, Cosby added, “You did not have to drive someplace else to go see somebody. Nobody is saying, ‘Wauk-What?’ Yeah, this is very nice, and I’m feeling good to be the first.”
And so it went as the $24 million renovation bore its first fruit on an evening that saw Genesee Street alive with activity and every corner of the theater telling a different story. Among the snapshots seen:
In the city’s new 699-space parking garage on County and Clayton streets, mother and daughter Cheryle and Lauren Witt of Waukegan were surprised to have the pick of spaces around 5 p.m.
“I didn’t know how fast it would fill up, so we got here a little early,” said Cheryle Witt, who parked strategically near a first-floor exit. With 90 minutes until showtime, the Witts planned to eat at La Casa del Samuel, a newer restaurant on Genesee Street that Lauren’s students at Waukegan High School recommended.
In Jack Benny Plaza, the Deep Chicago Rhythm Owls and John Stewart set up their instruments in the elements, ready to provide live entertainment from 5 to 10 p.m. Their music soon echoed off the surrounding buildings as traffic flowed relatively smoothly into the area.
Waukegan’s new police horses, Freedom and Liberty, stepped forth with officers Ray Jones and Mike Noyer in the saddles. The horses were said to be a little leery of the rotating searchlights set up in the middle of Genesee Street, but otherwise they worked the crowd as expected, posing for snapshots with children.
When the doors opened, the first ticket-holders in the door were Steve and Donna Warneke of Gurnee and Sean and Lynne Depke of Wadsworth. Donna Warneke reported that it was “cold, very cold” waiting in line, but added that the wait was worth it. “It’s so nice,” she said. “Just beautiful.”
Foot traffic through the lobby tied up a bit as arrivals stopped to gape upward at the grand chandelier. Guests worked their way up to the lounges on the upper floors, and Waukeganites Richard Vanlake and Jan Paxton were among the first to discover the open-air terrace above the theater marquee.
“I love it. It’s beautiful,” said Vanlake, taking in the view of Benny Plaza and holiday landscaping that used to be the Academy Theatre. “It’s unbelievable what this town can do when it wants to.”
Many visitors were heard exchanging memories of the last time they were inside the Genesee. Movie titles like Jaws and Saturday Night Fever were offered, and Gurnee Mayor Don Rudny wracked his brain until he recalled that he saw Love Story in 1970.
Waukegan native Margaret Dausman of her husband, Bill, who drove in from Long Lake, harked back to seeing movies in the 1960s. Margaret said she thinks nostalgia played a huge hand in drawing the sold-out opening night.
“This is fantastic. I have goosebumps,” she said. “I was so excited to come here, and I think I was more excited to see the Genesee than to see Bill Cosby.”
Mayor Richard Hyde actually beat Cosby to the stage, walking out in full tuxedo to welcome the crowd “no matter where you’re from. This is for Waukegan, and this is for all of you.”
Later, Cosby would get in a dig at Hyde’s dapper appearance.
“Did you see the mayor? He came out, he had a tuxedo on,” Cosby said. “You better keep an eye on him.”
Cosby also teased the crowd, and himself, about how the euphoria of re-opening the theater would pass with time â€" a long stretch of time.
“You’ll get to the point where they’ll say, ‘How old is that theater?’ ” said Cosby, answering his own question with a pained face. “ ‘Oh, it’s old — Bill Cosby was the first act … They’re renovating it now.’"
12/04/04
From: SuburbanChicagoNews.com
OPENING NIGHT
Waukegan ready for event three years in the making
By Dan Moran and Jim Newton,
staff writers
WAUKEGAN â€" From free parking to trolley service to reserved handicapped spaces, plans were being finalized Thursday for an event some three years in the making â€" Friday’s grand re-opening of the Genesee Theatre.
The doors are scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m. for the first of two sellout performances by comedian Bill Cosby, and city officials say they expect the downtown area to be busy with after-show restaurant and bar traffic until the wee hours of Saturday.
The biggest challenge, according to Genesee general manager David Rovine, will be clearing out the house from the 6:30 p.m. opener â€" a performance expected to last around 90 minutes â€" and preparing it for the 9:30 p.m. nightcap.
“It will be 2,416 people out, and 2,416 people in,” said Rovine, referring to the official capacity for the Cosby shows, which is also the number of fixed seats in the new Genesee.
With this in mind, Rovine said ticket-holders for the 9:30 performance will be allowed inside the renovated theater at “approximately 8:30 — and I want to stress the word ‘approximately.’"
To accommodate the crowds, all city parking lots will be open and free of charge Friday night, including the new 699-space lot on the northeast corner of County and Clayton streets.
Lake County officials said the county garage on County Street south of the Waukegan Public Library will also offer free parking Friday night only. The first floor of the county garage will soon open on a regular basis for public pay parking.
City surface lots will also be open east of the library, on the southwest corner of Washington Street and Sheridan Road, and at the Waukegan Metra station. Other measures being taken to ensure a smooth flow of traffic Friday, according to Sgt. Gabe Guzman of the Waukegan Police Department:
Genesee Street will be closed to motorized traffic from Clayton Street to Grand Avenue all night. Clayton Street will also be closed to all but valet parking traffic from Sheridan Road to Genesee.
Valet parking comes with a $5 charge and the dropoff point will be on the south end of the Genesee along Clayton Street. A new surface lot on the east side of the Genesee and a city surface lot north of the former News Sun building will be reserved for valet parking. Clayton Street will also feature several special handicapped spaces.
A free trolley will circulate around the downtown area from 5:30 p.m. to at least 12:30 a.m., taking visitors to parking garages and restaurants.
According to Guzman, the trolley loop will start at the south doors of the Genesee and proceed west on Clayton and south to a stop at the Lake County garage; east on Madison Avenue and south on Genesee to a stop at Kong’s restaurant; north on Genesee to Washington Street and east to a stop on Sheridan Road; east on Washington to another stop at the Metra station parking lot; and back up the bluff to a final stop at Madison and Sheridan before heading back to the theater.
Guzman recommended that motorists planning to use the new city garage should access it from Grand by turning south to the entrance on County Street. Traffic from the new garage exits onto Grand on its north end.
Motorists arriving planning to use the Lake County garage, Guzman said, should come south on County Street from Washington. He added that “we will have a cop on every corner downtown, from West Street east, to help move traffic and answer any questions.”
Noting that most restaurants downtown â€" including Madison Avenue, Kong’s and Louie’s Pizza â€" are either booked with reservations or will be by Friday evening, city officials said ticket-holders for the second show should assume that those leaving the first show might stay downtown and not vacate their parking space.
Once Cosby leaves town, the Genesee will start preparations for Sunday’s performance of A Christmas Carol by the Nebraska Theatre Caravan. Rovine said tickets are still available for the 6:30 p.m. performance, and added that walk-up sales will likely be available on Sunday.
The Genesee box office will be open Friday from noon to 9:30 p.m., on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from noon until showtime. Ticket prices for Christmas Carol are $34.50 and $29.50.
12/03/04
This Daily Herald article covers the reopening and includes a wonderful photo of the new marquee
Sad story about the overspending at the Genesee. How long will the public be paying for all the “overages?” For the record: Mr. Shepardson is not an angel…
Looks like a great job. Good luck to the Genesee!
recos
Thank you for the comment on our work at the Genesee . We finally received some daytime pics but would still like some night photo’s . hopefully we will receive some .
A better picture presentation of the Orpheum’s restoration, being done by the same people as the Genesee:
View link
If you want to see what you can expect, check out the Sioux City Orpheum Theater. It was renovated by GSI & Ray Sheperdson (same team that is doing the Genesee Theater) so you’ll get an idea of the quality of their work. Strange coincidence is that Sioux City also opened with Bill Cosby in Sept. 2001.
Sioux City Orpheum
http://www.orpheumlive.com
Note to Mr.Neifer of Harmon Sign:
The marque looks great the city lite it up about 3 weeks ago
and really looks good has that 1920’s look. Good Work!
The Genesee opening act will be Bill Cosby Tickets sold out.
The Golden Tiara at 3231 N Cicero in Chicago formaly the Bellpark Theatre was designed by Edward Steinberg who also designed the Genesee. The Golden Tiara donated several Chandeliers to the restoration effort.
If Mr. Neifer means photos of the GENESEE, he will have to ask those here, or the Theatre Historical Soc. of America via their Ex. Director, Richard Sklenar, at http:\www.HistorioricTheatres.org where they also have the publication “Pictorial History of Marquees” as their ANNUAL for 1980, available for the reduced price of $10 (plus $2 shipping) for a reduced time. This 8-1/2x11-inch publication in the long format is entirely in black and white since color still photography did not exist before the 2nd Wold War, but its many photos in large size will make one long for those good ol' days! For the ANNUAL, click on their sidebar link ‘Back Issue Prices Reduced.’ The Society may also have vintage photos of the GENESEE and can duplicate them for a fee; contact the Ex. Dir.
I work for the company that built the new marque sign for the Genesee . HarmonSign / Planet Neon .
The sign is 10 ft tall and 60 ft in total length and weights 6000 lbs. There are over 2000 light bulbs and hundreds of feet of neon tube .
If someone could send me some photoâ€\s we would greatly appreciate them .
Harmon Sign
Kevin Neifer
Plant Manager
7844 West Central Ave.
Toledo , Oh 43617
Visit our website at www.planetharmon.com
I can not wait till the theater open i will be there when the first tickets get sold. I just cannot wait to see the finished product of the renovation team.
What happened to the project? I hear that it stalled…again. When can we expect an opening of the theatre? Any REAL news? All we hear is gossip.
Like Lou Rugani, I too have heard the Genesee described as ‘Sullivanespue,’ but it is obviuosly baroque if one views the original architect’s intent on the blueprints reproduced on the web site listed in a previous comment. One look at the blueprint of the facade shows an Italianate influence in the design, even if it is now shorn of its gable peaks and finials as the photo seems to indicate. The AUDITORIUM THEATER in Chicago has truly ‘Sullivanesque’ ornament, since he designed it. He also proposed such a design for the predecessor of Milwaukee’s PABST, but it never came to be.
what happened to the website? When is it going to open?
This is exciting, it’s been a long awaiting process for the citizens of this community … a revival of downtown waukegan has been long overdue, it’s about time our mayor, and other community leaders took notice…
This will bring in revenue into waukegan and finally bring the people of this community to enjoy the city and it’s attractions..
Hopefully we will also win the bid on the casino , we definitely need a financial boost.
Eversince gurnee mills came to lake county, it has wiped out all large/small businesses in the area… we deserve it and I’m excited!!
In the 1980’s the plitt theaters chain operated this cinema.
The web site for this theatre can be found at: http://www.geneseetheatre.org/welcome/welcome.html
I have heard the Genesee Theatre’s architectural style described as “Sullivanesque”, in reference to the famed architect Louis Sullivan. Across the street from the Genesee Theatre are two points of interest worthy of mention: a large statue of Jack Benny, and also the former Academy Theatre, which is now an entertainment venue.