DuPage Theater
109 S. Main Street,
Lombard,
IL
60148
109 S. Main Street,
Lombard,
IL
60148
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 676 - 700 of 1,253 comments
Dupe Neighbor: You do raise a valid point about Geneva. But there is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. The Dupage Theatre is far more of a building than the Geneva Theatre was. In my opinion, that has some bearing on the situation.
So it’s Challenger now, eh? You do have a knack for being antagonistic.
1) I don’t think I said, “build it and they will come.” Perhaps you should read the comment again?
2) I did say that I don’t like your downtown area…what does the layout matter? That’s double-talk.
3) You are right: Naperville is nice. But a) there hasn’t been a theatre there for many, many, many years…since the 50’s I think, and b) the main point of my comment is that you don’t have much to work with in the way of historic structures.
4) It is my understanding, though I haven’t followed every detail of this situation, that someone wants to build condos on the theatre site. Now: there is a glut of such units developing due to (in my estimation) the low interest rate climate we have experienced over the last several years. I know that people are not jumping at these units, and many such structures are experiencing high vacany rates. I think it’s likely we are heading for vacant condo problems similar to the oversupply of office space Chicagoland experienced in the 80’s. It seems to me building condos now is sort of like buying high-tech stocks late in 1999…the boat has been missed. Is that what’s best for Lombard…or the guy building the condos for that matter?
5) I don’t think you care about taxes, businesses, the character of Lombard, or anything aside from your own interests. Admittedly that is my gut-level reading of the situation…but I have a pretty good track record.
That’s my two cents on the situation. For all the comments I have read about this theatre, I had never laid eyes on it until the other day.
Keep up the fight Dupage Theatre supporters! There is still a lot of hope!
Stuper – the meeting was May 23 at Glenbard West and there was a large group of residents there concerned about RSC. You should have been more on the ball and you would have seen what was coming next. (Keep wiping that egg, buddy)
Life’s too short- Lombard’s business district in the downtown area has seen so much improvement in the last 15 years. It now includes a restaurant that was featured in the Tribune as a “must try” and has been booked nightly ever since. It includes a restaurant from a major national chain and many other shops, hair salons, candy store, antique store etc. You should have seen it 15 years ago. It’s get better every year and that is despite the embarassment of that long shuttered eyesore with the safety fence around it.
Speaking of which, the most adorable downtown shopping district in my opinion is Geneva and guess what? They got rid of their old theatre too and only kept the facade. It is now 2 restaurants and a store inside. A great option for the Dupe, if only this group wasn’t so hell bent on their community theatre venue which was impractical and too costly.
Dear Life’s too short…apples and oranges. Glen Ellyn and Wheaton’s downtown are constructed in a grid pattern…which promotes “walking around” up and down the streets. Also they are much bigger downtowns with way more shopping. Our downtown is basically a straight line, with very little shopping, and it mostly consists of businesses (Real Estate office, cabinet maker, insurance agent, etc.) and not shopping.
Naperville has the best downtown, by far, and they have NO theatre!
There are very few, if any, vacant storefronts in Lombard, and most of these businesses have moved in since the Dupe has been shuttered. So your “Build it and they will come” philosophy does not fly.
Lombard district4 says “I was at the meeting along with SEVERAL [THERE IS THAT WORK AGAIN]"SEVERAL” others concerned with the R.S.C. plan.All I can tell you is that it was in May.“
Lombard district4 provides no specifics on the date.It figures.Spare me the small details.
I had an important experience with regard to this theatre last week, without meaning to. I had business to conduct in the western burbs. Drove through downtown Lombard, Glen Ellyn and Wheaton. Downtown Glen Ellyn and Wheaton are vibrant community shopping districts with historical character…especially Glen Ellyn, although it seems like the merchants of Wheaton have the right idea. The Lombard business district is barren. Now: the theatre by itself is not going to change that. But it is certainly a big step in the right direction. There’s no doubt that the theatre is the biggest piece of the historical character I saw in the other two towns that Lombard has to work with.
That web site (Oct 10) is pretty lame. A few patches of exterior brick. Those hand-made signs are also cute…were they placed there by a throng of angry Lombard residents…or in the middle of the night by the “Concerned Taxpayer?” (or whatever collection of handles the Taxpayer uses nowadays).
Keep up the fight. It’s not over til it’s over. The interior of the Allen Theatre, Cleveland was actually in the process of being demolished when the building was finally saved. Today it is restored, and serves an important role in Playhouse Square (another, and much larger, vibrant downtown).
I was at the meeting along with several others concerned with the RSC plan. All I can tell you is that it was in May. The demolition resolution was written the next day and given to the President of the Friends of the DuPage Theatre the day after it was written. The 87 board member Voltaggio made the motion to table the TIF until the June meeting because they did not have enough information.
Dupe Neighbor still doesn’t answer my query about the date of the school district 87 board meeting when their inner governmental agreement with Lombard was tabled,due to a funding shortfall of the
Dupage Theatre/R.S.C. development proposal.
According to Dupe Neighbor, he said that he attended that board meeting.
Please Dupe Neighbor, would you PLEASE provide the date of that specific district 87 board meeting?
Thanks.
For the record. Preservationist Jim DeWitt is making posts on a local website under the name of Bill (amongst many other handles). Jim has made claims that he has uncovered thew corruption that has lead to the impending demolition of the DuPage. We can’t wait to read about it in the papers. He alleges that a local theatre/dinner club (the Drury Lane in Oak Brook) payed off the trustees to get rid of the DuPage because it would have been a threat to them. We think it’s a lot of silliness……Let’s see. The web address is www.lombardvillagevoice.com
I belive that the Dupage was on that list of grants that were released. It had been removed at the request of the city, so the money didn’t show up. So you can’t show me any other pictures of the Dupage? Just as I thought, all you can do is offer me a pile of rubble. I just hope the museum acts fast, because the city will want to destroy the whole theater, so no visual record will exist of there mistake. Too bad that this group is so against the theater, or else they could have worked with the city and the “Friends” to save it.
We’ll wait and post a few pictures of the BIG pile of bricks that will be there sooner rather than later…..I hear the roar of bulldozers and dump trucks coming down Main now.
There is no proof that the money would have come…just becasue the state released the first batch of “political pork” does it mean the Dupe’s funds were part of it. And even if it was, they were still millions short of what it would take. At this point in the game the Friends of the theatre are too busy filing ridiculous lawsuits to even worry about the facade, the marquee, or anything else! The building will go down and they will still be bickering and accusing and “smelling something fishy”.
Wow what awful pictures. The high school I went to was in worse shape than the theater. If that is the worst damage to the theater, then I am not impressed. The bricks that have fallen off are the exterior bricks, which most likely dont' offer that much structural support. If you guys want to shock us out of towners as to how bad the theater is, get some better pictures.
I don’t think a white knight would stand a chance. He could come in with a check for the full restoration and there would still be people against it. I find it funny how just a few weeks ago, people on this site where saying that the grant money would never come. When it was reveled that that money would have come, had the council not rejected it, those people started saying “It wasn’t enough.” Funny how these people can change their excuses against the theater, but the “Friends” can’t even defend there plans.
I hope the people of Union enjoy the remains of the Dupage Theater just as much as some of the people on this site hated it.
Ghamilton and RobertR…come see the mess on Main Street for yourself and you will quickly see this building is falling apart. Go see some good shots of the building at www.dupagetheatre.com if you are not close enough to come see it for yourself. I for one drive by it several times a day and just cringe at the site of it. Read the local biased press to see the nonsense the supporters put out week after week in support of their sorry cause. Our village leaders and residents have put up with this boarded up eyesore for well over five years so enough is enough…let Union and the PRIVATE railroad museum do with it what they want. Better than going to the landfill in a few short weeks.
And if you know someone who can ride into town and be the white knight to save the day then tell ‘em to act fast….the building is coming down sooner rather than later.
Alright,I’ve started several comments here,but as dupersuperman pointed out -I don’t,thank heaven, live there.There is an old and so true saying.FOLLOW THE MONEY.I don’t for one second believe that the one side is embued with the purity of the raped taxpayer wanting to avoid further ravishment.The zealotry,verging on the warped,I see on this page means one of two things.I do not have an advanced degrees in the arts of skrinkology,but my undergrad classes gave me enough info to say that there is the stink of the wacked out or the underhanded.Take your pick.No one is this determined to destroy beauty just for the sake of fiscal sanity-NO ONE.
Dupe neighbor does not respond to my tiny request.
Again dupe neighbor can you give me the date of the District 87 board meeting that the I.G.A.with Lombard was tabled?
Dupe neighbor again wipe the EGG off your face.I am Lombard tax payer.I would not be commenting on all of the miinformation,lies,and distortions that your and your group of ANTI-PRESERVATIONISTS theatre opponents keep posting if I were not a Lombard Tax PAYER.
Please GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF.
I pay my fair share of LOMBARD TAXES and I don’t have to shut up.
I am not a “FITZY "or Preservationist Jim Devitt.
Again ,GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF.
RobertR,
Would a group who had an “under the table” deal push hard for a NON-BINDING referendum that would tell the village board whether or not the voters would like to see the use of Lombard tax dollars (be it TIF or otherwise) to restore the theatre? It would have been a PERFECT chance for the theatre group to prove to the board that most of Lombard valued and were willing to pay for a restored theatre.
THEY GOT IT THROWN OUT AND NEVER INITIATED THEIR OWN! Not even when they had, what they claimed to be, a perfectly fully funded plan to offer.
What does that tell you about their confidence in the public’s feelings towards the theatre plan?
Learn the facts about this plan AND this town before you call people small minded. I believe only a “small minded town” would have taken a fiscally irresponsible deal like that one and call it the answer to all of the towns problems!
Duper – get a life. That plan is done, stick a fork in it. Try to find another way to save the theatre before it’s too late. Also – you need to admit to people that you don’t live in Lombard. So love the theatre if you want but when it comes to paying for it, I really don’t care what you think – YOU’RE NOT A TAXPAYER HERE! You need to put up or shut up!
RobertR,There has been a power struggle for the theatre and adjacent property since they were donated as a gift to Lombard in the year 2000.
The vote to demolish the theatre without a plan for development makes no sense.“UNLESS”!
What is also astonshing is that according to the resolution to demolish the theatre ,Lombard will be paying for the demolition.
It would make more sense financially for Lombard to let the developer of the property pay for demolition.
Dupe neighbor says “ NO CONSPIRICY FOLKS,” but a logical move to avoid a potentially dangerous redevelopment plan for town and it’s residents".
According to “Lombardian District4” there MOST definitlely looks like there was a “CONSPIRICY.” No surprises there.
“SEVERAL ” [not a majority ][or many] JUST “SEVERAL” District 4 residents and community leaders met with 5 of the 6 trustes individually to garner support for a vote to demolish .
Through our Springfield contacts we discovered that the Governor was going to release a slew of “pork"funds in October 2005.Included in this was the $1 million dollar "America’s First Grant.”
Get a grip on yourself LombardianDist.4.It is the ILLINOIS FIRST GRANT OF $1MILLION DOLLARS.NOT the Federal “Save AMERICA’S TREASURES GRANT."
"We had to make sure the village voted to reject the funds prior to October."
No conspiricy here say’s dupe neighbor.
Frankly I believe this is scenario is just smoke and mirrors by a few residents on Charlote St. with big imaginations who think that they have become public servants to the rest of Lombard,and in their own way are trying to come to grips with their own DESTRUCTION of a building that is on the National register of Historical buildings.
However if what LombardianDistrict4 says is true then there definitly should be a RECALL of the TRUSTEES who said that the Illinois First Grant money would probably never come when they knew all along that the grant money would be released and that the grants were not "GRANTS” “JUST APPLICATIONS.”
Blatantly “ LYING ” in PUBLIC MEETINGS is CAUSE for RECALL.
Ron,
No payola. No back room deals. This is not a small-minded town. You don’t know the whole story. Should we have sat back and taken one for the team financially? As usual, this came down to money plain and simple whether it was decreasing property values for adjacent residents, long-term TIF stranglehold on tax dollars or costly overruns in the restoration plan — As taxpayers, we chose to fight them. Why do you preservationists always assume their is corruption involved when things don’t go your way?
Hopefully the residents of Union, Illinois have more class then this small minded town and enjoy the marquee and facade. This whole thing reeks of payola, under the table money and the good old boys club. I would love to know what you people consider “over-taxed”, for the sake of a few dollars you will give up what is probably the only decent thing in your narrow minded town.
Rita,
Please explain to me how you deternined that Sebby’s district had the “highest amount of support in the village”. I live in district 4. It was the district 4 residents that defeated the RSC plan. Let me tell you how:
Heavy political pressure was put on Senator Cronin to hold off on the TIF extension until the Spring. He complied (Early May 2005)
The failure to get the extension through General Assembly opened the door for the June 2nd resolution to demolish.
Several District 4 residents and community leaders met with 5 of the six trustees individually to garner support for a vote to demolish (All of this ocurred in May) We explained the importance of getting the resolution passed before the Spring. We knew killing the TIF was critical to stopping the RSC Plan. …Remember that?
Once we got the necessary 4 votes to keep the vote away from Mr. Mueller, the resolution was written and passed.
The next step was also important. The TIF probably would have passed in the Spring. We knew that. What we had to do was stop other funding sources that were in the RSC plan. Through our Springfield contacts we discovered that the Governor was going to release a slew of “pork” funds in October 2005. Included in this was the $1 million dollar America First grant. Knowing this, we had to make sure the village voted to reject the funds prior to October. Had this not happened, residents may have warmed up to the RSC plan and supported it. Residents tend to get happy feet about State and Federal support money coming in to their town. The resolution to reject the funds passed and and demolition will happen in either the Fall or the Spring, depending on how the judge rules. There is a contingency plan in case something crazy happens.
That’s the abbreviated version of “How District 4 Residents Defeated a Awful Theatre Plan” It was all done legally and ethically.
So tell me again Rita, how did you come to the conclusion that District 4 had the largest amount of theatre support? There were hundreds of us behind this.
You forget to mention that the funding gap disappeared by reducing seating from nearly 800 seats to less than 500….not from securing any real money towards the project. And the TIF extension just may benefit some other project at the DuPage Theatre site in the near future (but not to the tune of nearly 25% of the total project cost).
The good news of late is the building facade, marquee, and other historic elements will likely be heading to the railway museum in Union, Illinois. The preservationists should applaud this as it is likely the only salvation at this point. The “hysterical” commission lawsuit to block demolition will likely be dismissed since it fails to lack sense and provides not one penny of funding to restore the building. This commission has watched this building fall apart for 10 years and only now comes forward? What took them so long? The writing has been on the crumbling walls for years and years….
Dupe neighbor are you saying that the Village of Lombard approved spending $15,000 for a lobbyist to get approval of the T.I.F. extension when there wasn’t full approval of the taxing bodies in the T.I.F. DISTRICT? Wasn’t that the same as Lombard “ PUTTING the CART BEFORE the HORSE?"
Quote from the Chicago Tribune on June 1,2005.
"A preliminary [village of Lombard] staff report in April raised some concerns about how the theatre restoration would be funded.For the financing to work,Lombard needs the approval of the state legislature to extend it’s downtown tax increment financing district through 2024.In May trustees voted 4-3 to pay $15,000 to a lobbyist in an attempt to win approval in the spring session.[2005]
BUT state Senator Dan Cronin said Tuesday that "the Village of Lombard had FAILED to provide the needed informatin in time for the legislature to act."
"There needs to be a good CONSENSUS in the community,and there has to be one strong voice,” said Cronin,whose district includes Lombard.He [Cronin] said legislatures WERE willing to help Lombard,but the matter now likely could not be taken up until the spring session next year.“
Lombard is NOT a Novice at T.I.F. extensions and creating new T.I.F. districts.Maybe you can explain just what went wrong for Senator Cronin to say that the "village had failed to provide needed information in time for the legislature to act."
Can you provide me with the date of the District 87 Board meeting when the board tabled the T.I.F. extension?
Seems funny for a school district that has an acculumated deficit of $27.2 million for the past 5 years and faces another deficit of $5.5. million would be concerned about a 3.5. million dollar funding gap for the Dupage Theatre that disappeared when after working with the village staff ,the developer and the foundaton made consesions to the development plan.No MAGIC there. "JUST PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER.”
Again more mis-information by the ANTI-PRESERVATIONISTS OPPONENTS to the Dupage Theatre.