Virginia Theatre
203 W. Park Avenue,
Champaign,
IL
61820
203 W. Park Avenue,
Champaign,
IL
61820
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 58 comments found
Closed until 2013 for a major restoration.
The new, replica marquee. I very much prefer the vintage Art Deco sign that they removed recently.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_zero/6101139613/
The neon marquee was condemned and removed last Spring. City engineered felt it could no longer hold up under another heavy snow. This video tells the Virginia Theatre history with vintage photos;
View link
Does anyone know when the “RKO Virginia” marquee was replaced by the [plain] “Virginia” marquee. The RKO-V marquee looks like it has neon, at least the upper part. Info, anyone?
One more
View link
Another shot
View link
Photo of workers removing marquee.
View link
I heard the local news is reporting that the old marquee is down and the one is going up. Any additional info and photos is appreciated.
Now the message says that both the web page and the theatre itself are under renovation. The webpage has a link to the Chicago park’s District calendar which indicates the next event at the Virginia will be at the end of December 2010, so it looks like this renovation will be a fairly quick one.
Any photos of the work-in-progress of replacing the current marquee?
Last summer I visited Champaign, spent a lot of time photographing the Virginia marquee.
Here is my set of photos from May 2009:
View link
What will happen with the old marquee?
On Wednesday June 9, 2010, the Champaign Park District voted to remove the RKO neon marquee from the 1940s and construct a rectangular marquee with neon (similar to the left hand drawing in the link above). This decision went against public opinion and the opinion of historic preservation professionals in Champaign, in Illinois, and at the national level.
View link
Marquee Proposal
View link
Theatre is closing in June 2010 and will reopen in mid fall 2010
View link
The Empire Strikes Back and Poltergeist with Mike and Hank
I know.
Classic Exterior Photos (B/W)
View link
View link
View link
Classic Exterior Photo (COLORED)
View link
Classic Auditorium Photos (B/W)
View link
View link
http://www.thevirginia.org/photos.htm
http://www.thevirginia.org/tour/data/tour.htm
Hopefully the Champaign Park District will actually come to their senses and restore the existing marquee instead of persuing this idea of false restoration. It’s entirely conceivable that the existing marquee dates back to 1929 when RKO purchased the theater and wired it for sound. No one knows. There’s only one photograph of the original marquee and so far the oldest photograph of the existing marquee dates to 1947.
View link
I will miss it.
Hopefully the Champaign Park District knows what there throwing away and what there doing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/army_arch/4412874340/
Remembering something old is part of the thing that makes you love it.
Press release 3/10/10:
Many of you have probably heard the recent buzz surrounding the upcoming construction project for the Virginia Theatre, in particular the replacement of the marquee. We thought it would be helpful to provide you with the facts.
One of our top priorities for the historic Virginia Theatre is to restore it, as best as possible, to its original glory of the 1920’s when it first opened. The current marquee is not original to the building, in fact it was not placed on the building until the 1950’s and does not fit with the original style and design of the theatre. If you look closely you’ll notice that the current marquee blocks much of the beautiful Italian Renaissance Revival style detail of the upper floors of the building, which the original style did not.
The new marquee will NOT have an LED reader board. Like the original, the letters on the new marquee will still have to be hand placed to promote upcoming shows and it will visually look more like that of the original, but the back lighting and undercarriage lighting will be greener in overall energy efficiency. The current marquee is not energy efficient, is no longer operating as it should and would be costly to repair. In addition, replacement of the marquee to one more fitting of the original, has been a component of the overall restoration master plan since that plan was adopted in 2000.
The architectural firm of Westlake Reed and Leskosky, known for their historic restoration projects including historical theatres, has designed the next phase of the restoration and bids are currently being accepted for this project which, along with the marquee, includes replacement of the outer and inner doors, renovation of the entire lobby from floor to ceiling, repairing the lost plaster, the concession stand as well as replacement of the west storefront windows, preserving the copper trim as was done two years ago in the east lobby. The Champaign Park District will consider the result of the bids in April. Construction is scheduled to begin in June and continue through the fall.
The Virginia Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in October of 2003 as a property of local (not national) significance. According to National Register personnel and the National Register website, National Register listing places no restrictions on the use or renovation of the property as long as there are no federal monies attached to the property, which for the Virginia, there are not.
For more information, please contact Bobbie Herakovich at 819-3819 or stop by the Bresnan Meeting Center at 706 Kenwood in Champaign to review the plans.
Well it sort of smart for them to do this.
The old marquee is not functioning right. And it would cost to much to get it re-paired.
I am 50-50 as long as the new marquee doesn’t look like a piece of garbage.
The CPD press release said the marquee was designed by Westlake Reed and Leskowsky and that the plans may be viewed at the CPD office.
Any designs of the new marquee?