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DuPage Theatre Key to Downtown Lombard’s Revival
posted by
btkrefft
on
February 19, 2007 at 10:00 pm
LOMBARD, IL — Village officials in Lombard have listed the DuPage Theatre as its top priority in a ranking of 41 projects related to the future of the downtown area. Trustee Greg Gron said a new theatre would be a “strong draw” and pointed out the impact that the arts have made in other communities including Chicago, Aurora, Elgin, and Joliet. Gron went on to say, “It’s a big puzzle. It’s going to take a lot of pieces to put together.”
The largest piece of that puzzle would be the construction of a new building with condominiums, retail and a community theatre on the site of the partly-demolished DuPage Theatre.
Other projects include possible additions to/new construction at the Helen Plum Library, expanding the Praga restaurant, and a directory kiosk downtown. Village President William Mueller noted, “We can’t just depend on people from other communities to come in, we have to support our downtown.”
For more details, see the article in the Daily Herald.
Comments (40)
That is the dumbest thing I have ever read.
How many people from Lombard does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Finally! After seven years. It’s not about how many.
It’s about how few.
7 years…try 11 years. I agree with LTS the theatre was already torn down.
That’s not news…that’s a fabrication of the real story being that come March 1st the village will pass a resolution authorizing the demolition of what is left of the DuPage Theatre. The theatre site is indeed a hot topic in town but now that the theatre itself is gone (and the remaining lobby and decrepit old shoppes coming down in a few weeks) the village can move forward on serious proposals for new development that are not hampered by the unfunded preservation agenda.
And move forward with final demolition they did…even with the veiled threat of legal action from the overly “friendly” trustee.
The unfunded dream of the friends has ended so one would hope but news sources today reported that legal action seems to be brewing. On what grounds who knows….and those friends certainly did not make any friends with the village board with their mean spirited and heartless attacks. One can only hope they pack up and move to Wheaton to save their theatre…maybe that is what the trustee meant given that Wheaton’s old dame is in the same boat as the DuPage once was (in need of restoration with NO MONEY to do it).
Friends of the DuPage can take their cause to Wheaton alright….just stay away from the courts. Lombard deserves better and let progress move forward without your group.
You know what? You really need to shut your mouth. You are an idiot and so are your friends. You have all been steadily proving that for the last two years. Wheaton is an attractive community. Lombard is blight. There is one reason for that difference. Continue to babble on about Lombard if it fills some need in your personality. But leave Wheaton alone. They believe that the theatre will enhance their community and have been working hard to achieve their goals. They don’t deserved to be attacked by the likes of you.
Sounds like Wheaton could use the friends….with their inflated egos and all…they’d fit right in with you LTS. Lombard is blight? Do tell…only blight is right downtown where the theatre once stood. Wheaton is full of itself with an overly righteous attitude as pushed by the college agenda and the likes of you. And given all the lawsuits that have stalled the Wheaton Theatre dreams it will be years before it enhances their community. No attack but reality is what it is….and life is indeed to short to argue over such petty attacks that you put forth. Maybe “Theatre Buff” can come to Wheaton and save the day…..before it is too late there too.
You deserve it you little punk, with your five screen names.
Keep your nonsense inside the playpen Cinema Treasures allows for you. You don’t bother the rest of us in there. When you do come out, don’t take shots at people who are investing long hours in theatre renovation and community development…ESPECIALLY a group that has had their progress slowed by a frivolous lawsuit.
Or here’s a better idea: I’ve been boxing for years. Is that blue collar enough for you? How about if I just kick your ass up and down the block where the Dupage Theatre stood a few times?
Is that a threat? There are programs to help you with that anger…maybe TrueClass could even bake you one of her fabulous pies to calm your nerves. Five screen names? What? Life’s too short for that…and speaking of frivolous lawsuits, the Dupe group can certainly relate to the pain you’re feeling in Wheaton. Check out what they have to say about what’s next at www.dupagetheatre.net
Mr.FIVE SCREEN NAMES! What about all of your talk about “Let the healing begin?” Now you start on Wheaton.I agree with LTS..
Leave Wheaton out of this.
Yes Lombard is “BLIGHT”. Lombard will continue on it’s bumpy roads being 10 years behind it’s neighbors with vibrant downtowns.
Yes Lombard is “BLIGHT.” A “BLIGHTED” village board / RAT PACK.
Will the healing begin?
Healing? That leaves scabs and scars that will remain for four more years as the face of our village board changes…..and if Lombard is so blighted then PLEASE take your cause to Wheaton. Why stay and mess up the lilac village anymore with your friendly antics? There is a theatre waiting for you….maybe your group can go 2 for 2 in the deconstruction game.
LTS,
So you want to “kick someone’s ass” for posting his view point on the failed restoration of Lombard’s infamous eyesore? Doesn’t sound very arsy to me. My guess is that you are about 5' 5" tall and suffering from a bad case of Napoleon’s (dwarf) Syndrome.
You need to lie back and heal yourself LTS and Ray. Someone always has to lose a battle of this nature and it was your side that was defeated. You really never had a chance to win because your opponent had logic and common sense on their side. They also were much smarter than your side. Blunder after blunder the dumb and dumber theatre supporters have become Lombard’s laughingstock.
Is that your concept of “Let the healing begin?"
Is it your intent to have this webpage shut down by agitating everybody?
You and your cohorts flame all users that post PRO DuPage Theatre. You flame Wheaton and their theatre supporters. What buisness is it to you what Wheaton does with their theatre?
The opponent ISN’T logical and has NO common sense and has proven it time and time again.
The opponent is not smarter. The opponent is just a THUG. The opponents are thugs that are motivated by greed which is the breeding ground for corruption.
The question is: What will you do when your “leader”/THUG abandons you in favor of a development that feathers their nests and is more dense than RSC?
You will be the lonely penguin.
Is that development you mention the 200 apartments that were threatened by the same one that mentioned heading to Wheaton? I really think you could use a pie…maybe that would calm your nerves and then get you to realize that the arts will indeed thrive in Lombard with the new plan that is quickly coming forth. You know…the one with 8,000-10,000 square feet of community dedicated space in addtion to condos and retail space and plenty of parking…there is a deal being worked out right now with a few of the same players. Lombard will indeed heal…the sad part is that it will forever be splintered for as long as they let it be. What a shame they can’t put it behind them and embrace the arts for what they are. The building itself is not what it is all about….it is the celebration of the arts themselves.
Celebrate the Arts? Do tell? When? Where? Who do you think you are trying to fool?
In Lombard? I don’t think so. 8-10K Sq.Feet of community space?
Highly unlikely. It was JUST lip service to his constituents. Celebrate the Arts? He DIDN’T specify 8-10k Sq.Feet of building dedicated to a cultural arts facility! Now did he?
Is he or any of his RAT PACK believeable? Not anymore!
Who knows what development will result. One thing is almost certain though. It will have all of the components you found objectionable with RSC.
Another interesting point. Unless you are a decision making member of the Village of Lombard or a member of the “good old boy club” don’t believe for 1 minute that YOU will have any influence on the end product to be built on that site.
Ray M.,
What a coincidence, the other website message board gets shut down and now you post here. Your posts are nothing more than a smear campaign and you could care less about the theatre. We have exposed you and Jim as frauds time and time again.
Update about the DuPage Theatre.
View link
folks don’t be fooled by Ray M. His agenda is revenge and he could care less about preservation.
My agenda is to make sure the taxpayers don’t fund this project. Which could have been done if the friends weren’t in charge, now we have nothing to show for it except a demolished thatre that the friends supported.
What is your agenda Brian Wolf?
I will answer that because it is an easy one to answer. The Friends of the theatre for years have spread their lies and misinformation on this site and others. Our job, (Yes “our” because there are many of us) has been to make sure the truth is being told.
I, for one, have been critical of their group for years as they have said (ad nauseam) “no taxpayer money will be used”. Well now we have a plan in place that is fully taxpayer funded that also included demolition.
All one has to do it look at their history…bake sales and pancake breakfast’s bringing in hundreds of $$ when they needed Millions of $$. AND THEN POOF!!! THE FUNDRAISING STOPPED. Now their mission statement is “why fundraise when the taxpayers could foot the bill”.
Brain, I would have liked to see this theatre saved, seeing I know a little more about its history than you do. It has been well documented that I called for this group of friends to be disbanded years ago and for some other people to step up to the plate. Their egos' got to big and now they support a plan that included demolition. I have never supported this current plan, have you???
As far as my name is concerned, I have a small child and I do not need them calling my house in the middle of the night as they have been known to do. That is how this group is, they resort to name-calling and threats…read the Daily Herald any time…these are facts.
As far as this idiot Ray M. is concerned, his agenda is about politics, just read his posts. He was kicked off another webiste/blog and now he came here to spew his venom. Fact!
So in a nutshell, to answer your question, I was for the the theatre but against “preservation at any cost”, but now the theatre is gone.
Brian, pleae make no mistake about these few anti-culture individuals agenda. They claim theatre supporters call people in the middle of the night and harass them, and that the paper is full of stories iof such “…I have a small child and I do not need them calling my house in the middle of the night as they have been known to do. That is how this group is, they resort to name-calling and threats…read the Daily Herald any time” Where are the articles. I CHALLENGE CHALLENGER, oops excuse me DuPage Fiends to produce ONE article that specifically says that. There are none. But what about the article about all the theatre support signs STOLEN and DUMPED that were recovered?
Make no mistake about it, these people want there to be ZERO remnants of the DuPage Theatre. They want to see the property cleared. They DO NOT care about a library on the property. These people talk about a library/cultural center/theatre there, but the same two people who started LOMBARD LIMP.com had a website that showed bulldozers and had a “countdown to the bulldozer parade at Main and parkside” on it. Pretty catchy, huh? Now they claim to want to work for a theatre/cultural center on the site, and claim the Friends won’t work with them. Why would they? lokk at their track record towards the project.
Challenger oops, he changed his screen name (AGAIN!) calls someone an “idiot” yet he’s afraid to be attacked. He better be careful, living in that glass house of his. He also claims to be soooo worried about taxpayer dollars being used, yet where is his attack on other projects that use taxpayer dollars that directly affect him and his small child (God help the poor thing!)? Where’s his disdain towards Gov Blago’s Gross Receipts Tax Plan that would rob small businesses of valuable dollars? Where’s his disdain at tax dollars being used to build a splash park directly between a busy east-west road and a dangerous railroad track (one of the busiest in the State)?
Brian, I strongly suggest that you ignore ANY AND ALL of their venomous posts, they are full of hate and lies and just an attempt to flame this board to get it shut down. You see, if they get any pro-theatre pages shut down, the only outlet lefdt for people is the anti-theatre website that tries to pass itself of as neutral, but regularly censores and deletes pro-theatre messages.
Brian, pleae make no mistake about these few anti-culture individuals agenda. They claim theatre supporters call people in the middle of the night and harass them, and that the paper is full of stories of such “…I have a small child and I do not need them calling my house in the middle of the night as they have been known to do. That is how this group is, they resort to name-calling and threats…read the Daily Herald any time” Where are the articles. I CHALLENGE CHALLENGER, oops excuse me DuPage Fiends to produce ONE article that specifically says that. There are none. But what about the article about all the theatre support signs STOLEN and DUMPED that were recovered?
Make no mistake about it, these people want there to be ZERO remnants of the DuPage Theatre. They want to see the property cleared. They DO NOT care about a library on the property. These people talk about a library/cultural center/theatre there, but the same two people who started LOMBARD LIMP.com had a website that showed bulldozers and had a “countdown to the bulldozer parade at Main and parkside” on it. Pretty catchy, huh? Now they claim to want to work for a theatre/cultural center on the site, and claim the Friends won’t work with them. Why would they? lokk at their track record towards the project.
Challenger oops, he changed his screen name (AGAIN!) calls someone an “idiot” yet he’s afraid to be attacked. He better be careful, living in that glass house of his. He also claims to be soooo worried about taxpayer dollars being used, yet where is his attack on other projects that use taxpayer dollars that directly affect him and his small child (God help the poor thing!)? Where’s his disdain towards Gov Blago’s Gross Receipts Tax Plan that would rob small businesses of valuable dollars? Where’s his disdain at tax dollars being used to build a splash park directly between a busy east-west road and a dangerous railroad track (one of the busiest in the State)?
Brian, I strongly suggest that you ignore ANY AND ALL of their venomous posts, they are full of hate and lies and just an attempt to flame this board to get it shut down. You see, if they get any pro-theatre pages shut down, the only outlet lefdt for people is the anti-theatre website that tries to pass itself of as neutral, but regularly censores and deletes pro-theatre messages.
Dupagedude is none other than Jim Devit, the same person who lost his election by a landslide, violated several village codes, adn left Lombard in shame with his tale between his legs. ALL FACTS! Not even Jim can deny them.
Now he calls us “anti-culture” when before he called us “anti-theatre”. Which is it? Your agenda has always been politics. Now you support a plan that included demolition, and you call yourself a preservationist.
seeing how I have been a resident of Lombard for more than a decade now, and as someone who did vote for Mr. Devitt, I will set you straight on a few things. First, it was not a “landslide” loss as you claimed, he ran as a write-in and lost by only a few votes. Second, can you name the Village codes he violated? He built a deck without a permit. As I remember, Trustee Tross did the very same thing. Other Trustees park their vehicles on the lawn. Several regularly violate other laws. And you are worried about a deck permit from what, five years ago? Last time we talked to the Devitt’s, they left after buying a larger home, and they were worried about issues in Lombard that weren’t being addressed by Seby and the rest of the Board.
What is your point in trying to embarass him? The only person you are embarassing is yourself by being so childish.
His deck violated code also, too big and too close to the lot line. Who cares about Tross' deck it was built within limits and he eventually paid. No Harm.
If anybody should be embarassed it should be you and your theatre group, following the trustees around town trying to create some kind of scandal. Heavens if they should do 26 in a 25 speedzone while driving.
It was NOT only a “few” votes, but thanks for your “expertise” on local politics which supports my theory that Jim’s agenda is one of politics. If he “left” town then why is he knee deep involved in local politics?
Isn’t that why you are on the library board, to make sure the library doesn’t go there.
And Rita one more thing…Thanks for proving that dupagedude is, in fact, Jim devitt because he has lied repeatedly about it.
I just ran into Mrs. Devitt here in town, and asked her about these “questions” you had. After I respond, this subject should be over. Go back to Lensch’s site if you want to talk trash, leave those of us that enjoy old theatres alone.
The deck. It was built on top of an existing deck. He DID pay for the permit. Tross’s deck was new construction. I believe Tross even put a hot tub on it…Eww, there’s a visual I didn’t need!
Following trustees around? No sir. But when their name is on their plate, it makes spotting them much easier… Whether it be at a local watering hole or on Grace Street.
Few votes? The numbers the told me were out of close to a thousand ballots, the final difference was like 30 or so. That’s pretty close for a write-in! How is he “knee-deep” in local politics? Does he hold public office? Or does he, like a majority of Lombardians, want to see something like a cultural center, done for the community that WILL NOT raise their property taxes like a library would do?
I’m on the library board? REALLY? OH MY GOSH! I havn'e attended a SINGLE meeting! How awful of me!
So you don’t deny following them around at least. Maybe your time would have been better spent fundraising FOR the theatre instead of supporting a plan that included demolition of the theatre.
Maybe you buddy Devitt should have stapled his papers together. HAHA A thousand ballots. not close. But who cares anyway, the more you guys talk about politics the stronger my case is…that your group was/is failures.
Funny how you guys supported Tross when he voted for you and now you are against him..Too bad the new Trustee will vote against the theatre even with your two other puppet trustees
Quotation from Challenger=(Crazy Ray)=(DuPage fiends)& =(TBA).
“Brain, I would have liked to see this theatre saved, seeing I know a little more about its history than you do. It has been well documented that I called for this group of friends to be disbanded years ago and for some other people to step up to the plate. Their egos' got to big and now they support a plan that included demolition. I have never supported this current plan, have you???”
Cry me a river. If he REALLY wanted this theater saved and wanted another group involved all he had to do was organize one. Nobody would have or could have stopped him. Instead he just complains about those that stepped up and were counted. Instead his only claim to fame for attempting to save the theater is he purchased a lemonade at a fundraiser. And that is well documented. What a big spender!! Cry me a river. We know where he comes from. He is as transparent as his post names.
He sings the song about how he wanted it saved but DID NOTHING to save it. His words are as cheap and his motives.
Mr.DuPage fiend. I have news for you. Forget your pompous speches about wanting this theater saved. Actions speak louder than words. You are a fraud.
KF what have done done to save the theatre…besides supporting a demolition plan…what an oxymoron.
Talk about fraud, Yes I will admit that I bought a lemonade and they took my name, and my wife’s name, oh and my newborn baby’s name and all the sudden all 3 of us are considered one of the “5000 theatre supporters”. We know the truth that there are only 28 supporters left.
The only frauds on this site are the friends and their leadership that supported a demolition plan.
We’re sorry, but your sount of “28” is wrong by a long shot!!! We aren’t members of the Friends, and we have quite a few friends, neighbors and church members that are NOT memebers as well. Yet we all support the idea for a cultrual center at the DuPage. Most of us also do not believe that we need a new (unnecessary) library, nor do we want to see our property taxes raised to do such. We also do not believe for one minute that those against the theatre project want any sort of community development whether it be theatre, library or even a park!
Rita,
Please don’t speak for us. For a while there you sounded as though you might have some common sense and logic. Your last few posts have exposed you for a “preservation at any cost” lunatic.
You are right Restoration Rita…skip the library, skip saving any of the historic aspects, and instead build another unwarranted condo complex with a hair salon, a dentist office, and the prerequisite drugstore and give a 1200 square foot space to the arts. That is what downtown needs to thrive.
And you’re right that “your sount of ‘28’ is wrong by a long shot”…more like a dozen (Kevin, Laura, Deb, Dana, John, Barb, Virginia to name a few) tops is the reality of their support. Can you name anyone else?
And Rita just what is a “cultrual” center and what are “memebers”?
Neighbor? What does “preservation at any cost” mean to you? Can you define it? I would like to know who would pay for the preservation because the village staff held a information only meeting for Lombard residents about the theatre tif district and the village staff informed us that there would be no increase in real estate taxes for preservation with an arts center. Are you telling me that the village staff lied to the residents at that meeting?
Preservation at any cost – Preserve no matter how much TIF/Tax dollars are used, no matter how many residents property values are harmed by the variances granted, no matter that the elected officials chosen by the residents through a democratic process voted against the preservation. That my old friend is “Preservation at ANY Cost”. It was an archaeic term that should have died with Doug.
A little late now that the theatre is gone thanks to the Friends failed plan wouldn’t you say Ray? Or does “preservation at any cost” mean rebuild it brick by brick using millions more in TIF? If preservation was so important then why couldn’t the friends fund it themselves and instead were relying so heavily on TIF (property tax $$)??? Preservation at any cost failed because preservation only works if it is fiscally prudent and in this case it was NOT. Preservation at any cost fails time and time again….use your own money for that agenda, not TAX DOLLARS.
Neighbor? Kindly let those that have passed away while serving their community rest in peace. Joan,Doug,and Mark. You aren’t fit to walk in their footsteps.
Then the Village of Lombard didn’t lie. No property taxes would be used for restoration and a cultural arts center.
TIF/Tax dollars? “Residents property values harmed by variances?”
Would you have the same concerns if those same issues existed for a library? Would you support giving $9.5 million in TIF for a library? Would you support setback variances ,landscape variances, parking variances,traffic issues , and flood control variances for a library?
And you Ray are certainly not fit to walk in their footsteps either with your ongoing vendetta to anyone not in favor of preservation.
How could the library get $9.5 million in TIF if the library is not even a tax producing parcel? TIF can only come from development that generates property tax (thus the increment)growth….and giving millions in TIF to the library is simply not prudent.
What issues for a library? Has a library design with a need for setback variances, landscape variances, parking variances, traffic issues, and flood control variances come before the planning authorities? No it has not….and likely never will according to well placed sources. That idea was tossed out years ago and will never garner support from the board (library, park, and village!)
Now back to preservation issues…as this is a theatre advocacy site and not a platform for political follies.
First off, “Preservation Princess” you can change your screen name all you want, but you can’t change the stink you bring. We all know you change names on a daily basis, so you’re not fooling anybody.
Second, I’m confused. You say a library on the DuPage property would never produce any sales tax “How could the library get $9.5 million in TIF if the library is not even a tax producing parcel” so why would we want to see our property taxes raised any more to pay for something that is outdated and unnecessary? You’re right, giving millions on TIF would be wrong, even though, by law, it could be done.
You mentioned all the reasons why the library wouldn’t work on that site, so WHY keep bringing it up? Even the library bopard president, in the most recent Lombardian, said they are trying to work out an agreement with the park board for the adjoining property. Everyone on town is smart enough to see the library isn’t a good fit. Except you!!!
Rita. It isn’t about a library. I suggested giving the library the land and $9.5 million in TIF money that would be generated from whole block development and they do the backpeddle on the library.
What happened to LAMP?
Library at Main and Parkside? Read their backpeddle quote…“That idea was tossed out years ago and will never garner support from the board (library, park, and village!)”
So then what development will go on the “ most coveted ” piece of property in the entire Village of Lombard? It’s a BIG secret!!
Who do these people think their fooling?