(Racine Journal Times, January 19, 2009)â€" In the midst of a deep recession, this county’s only budget theater, Regency Cinema, will close in April.
Marcus Theatres Corp. spokesman Carlo Petrick confirmed Monday morning that the budget theater at 5230 Durand Ave. on the fringe of Regency Mall will close when its lease ends in mid-April.
Regency Cinema became a budget theater in November 2006 when the 13-screen Marcus Cinema at the Renaissance opened in Renaissance Business Park.
Asked if the eight-screen Regency has not fared well as a budget cinema, Petrick replied, “It’s a very old theater location and does not have all the amenities of a new theater.†Also, Marcus has the Renaissance to fill that need, he added.
Regency Cinema has no future as a cinema and may be razed, Regency Mall Manager Curt Pruitt said Monday. “We are not seeking another theater operator,†he said.
“We’re exploring razing the building, and Marcus is working with us to make that happen,†but no final decision has been made, Pruitt said.
One option is to demolish the building to make a “totally clean slate to work with as we market that land,†he said.
If the mall’s owners, CBL & Associates Properties, keep the building, the sloped floors would be leveled for another use.
“The value cinema has not made money for Marcus,†Pruitt said.
The theater’s manager could not immediately be reached for comment. But Bob Tapp, 50, an assistant manager who has worked there for 20 years, said he thought the local movie-going population was never fully aware that the Regency had become a “value†cinema. He often met people who expressed surprise when they learned that.
Some, after hearing the theater will close, are somewhat crestfallen, Tapp said. “People are saying, ‘With the economy the way it is, why aren’t you guys staying open?’â€
However, Tapp acknowledged Petrick’s point that the Regency has an antiquated floor plan. “The aisle in the middle is an old concept,†and the theater has other outmoded aspects, he said.
General Cinema built the theater and also the now defunct Westgate Theater, Tapp said. Marcus added two screens to the Regency when it took over the theater.
Tapp said the Regency has about 20-25 employees, most of them part-time. He doesn’t know what’s next for him.
“I love working at the movie theater,†Tapp said. “I’ve always loved movies, so this was like a dream job for me.â€
Marcus Theatres, a division of The Marcus Corp., is the seventh-largest theater chain in the country and currently owns or operates 679 screens at 56 locations in Wisconsin and the Midwest.
I ran across a 1941 Boxoffice Magazine article that reported the BRANDT Theatre was to open in October 1941 with 750 seats and that land owner/developer William Brandt and promoter Nat Bernstein of Hammond, Indiana were the prime motivators.
“… you can find a wall that seems to be hollow indicating it was added after the original construction and would indicate the entry to that part of the building. Still trying to track down more information …” No one seems to know what that was all about, but it never opened into the theatre although I’ve seen the poster photo. The Saxe Brothers chain may have been posting one-sheets there pending leasing or selling that portion of the property. That Rapp & Rapp-designed storefront is still there on Sixth Avenue and it may have been designed as the original entrance with the actual entrance added later, or as an auxiliary entrance and exit that was omitted at the last moment for economic reasons. A local story said that building codes prohibited a Sixth Avenue entrance, though that’s illogical as the KENOSHA, ORPHEUM and earler MAJESTIC all had Sixth Avenue entrances. There’s a storefront to the west of the Gateway also designed by Rapp & Rapp. A rooftop garden is still possible above the 56th Street entrance as there’s a door leading directly to it.
Reopening the Tower Theater could ignite the redevelopment of North 27th Street in Milwaukee, but the cost of the project makes it a tough play.
The SOHI District, which represents the area south of Highland Avenue, wants to attract a theater troupe to use the space. But the building has been vacant for more than a decade and will need dramatic improvements before it can be used for rehearsals or other events, said Keith Stanley, SOHI District manager.
“I think the cost is the main issue,†he said, adding, “It could be something that turns the corner for the district.â€
The SOHI District is trying to bring new development to 27th Street between Highland and St. Paul avenues through streetscape improvements, police cameras and efforts to attract businesses.
Establishing arts communities is a proven way to bring companies to an area, Stanley said, and there’s room for production space and offices in the building.
“We’ve seen places throughout the country â€" that are in the same position we are in â€" use art as a way to promote commercial revitalization,†he said.
A little more than 10 years ago, Milwaukee County bought the Tower Theater with a cluster of buildings that includes two towers now used for county offices, said Jack Takerian, county director of facility management. The county doesn’t use the space, he said.
“There have been some theater companies that have contacted us over the years, interested in the space,†he said. “But nothing has developed.â€
Tower’s previous owner, Family Hospital, ripped out many of the seats to make room for a cafeteria and erected walls for offices, Takerian said. The seats must be replaced and the walls removed before it’s a theater again, he said.
“Their thought process,†he said, “was the theater was an open space for them to do a variety of different things.â€
The county never planned to use the space as a theater, Takerian said, but welcomes the SOHI District’s help in trying to find a group to use the space.
“That partnership with SOHI â€" Keith and his group â€" is essential to turning that development around,†he said.
Stanley said his group is just starting to hunt for a theater troupe and doesn’t expect the project to turn over quickly.
“It’s a unique building,†he said. “I would hate to lose it, but you never know how things are going to pan out.â€
The west side of the 80-year-old Roosevelt Theatre was taken down on Monday morning. The 80-year-old theater, which was first condemned last summer, was scheduled for demolition due to deteriorating conditions. About $150,000 in back taxes was also owed on the property. The theater hosted live performances, vaudeville and movies during its lifespan, but had been vacant for about 20 years.
The Roosevelt’s last act
Crews begin demolition of historic local theater
MATTHEW OLSON
The curtain has officially fallen on the Roosevelt Theatre.
Crews from Racine-based Azarian Wrecking demolished the western side of the 80-year-old theater, 2908 Roosevelt Road, on Monday morning and the rest of the building will soon follow.
Mitch Engen, property division maintenance supervisor for the city, said there was no clear time line on when the building would be completely brought down. But the entire demolition and clean-up of the site is expected to take a few months.
Some interior preparations using cutting saws were completed and exterior barricades put in place last week to prepare for this week’s more noticeable demolition of the theater, which housed live theater, vaudeville and movies during its history, but had been vacant for about 20 years. (Note: Actually since mid-March of 1985)
Asbestos was emoved from the building last month by Gilbert, Ill.-based Champion Environmental Inc. a process which Engen said took about three weeks.
The theater was first condemned in June of 2007, but building owners Jon Gee and Kathryn Hannemann filed an injunction, amid discussions of a potential buyer for the theater, and a stipulation was reached this January.
The stipulation’s first deadline for paying back taxes was missed and no offer came forward for the building, setting it up for demolition again. The building’s owners owed about $150,000 in taxes on the theater and the cost of weather-proofing the building was estimated at around $300,000. Hannemann spoke of a potential benefactor who was interested in donating $500,000 to the project over a number of City Council meetings this summer, but the council voted in August to take the building down when that offer did not materialize.
The site will be backfilled and covered with topsoil and grass seed. Engen said where the land goes beyond that is still to be determined.
“The land will still be owned by the owners of record, but they are behind in their taxes,” Engen said. ‘The county may take that land or the city look at it as a potential redevelopment site. But it will still be owned by the owners of record at the end of the year."
The contract for asbestos removal was about $37,000 and the demolition price for the theater was estimated at $147,477.
Gee or Hannemann could not be reached for comment on Monday, but City Attorney Patrick Sheehan said the city has not received notice of any further action from the owners regarding the site.
Reader Comments:
I can’t say I’ll miss it as I’ve never been there.
But it would have made a good “Live” stage for groups to do the acts before bigtime ! Another wasted chance by our famous city papa’s.
hollydr
Oct. 7 – 05:54:58
What a shame! I wish the nearly $200,000 went to fixing up sidewalks versus tearing down an old building!
Pablo
Oct. 7 – 07:34:13
Breaks my heart…. Someone please send me a small peice
timarb
Oct. 7 – 08:11:19
It was a great theater !!! Went to many movies there as a teenager. I think they used to do The Rocky Horror Show too. I’d have to ask my kids or maybe someone in this forum knows. Kenosha had some great movie houses. The Lake Theater and of course The Orpheum. I’d like to know if the citizens of Kenosha can help themselves to some bricks for old times sake.
dmcs
Oct. 7 – 08:51:33
Thanks for the cement-slab story. The Rhodes Theatre in Chicago also had a collection of such footprints and signatures. When I visited Marquette that one time long ago, their sidewalks were carrying embossed warnings from the city fathers against spitting.
THe interior is intact except for the proscenium and some minor cases of the usual water-damage holes in flat plaster, both of which can easily be repaired.
No rush to create a vacant lot
July 23, 2008
Possibility of rehabbing Roosevelt Theatre is worth more time
EDITORIAL – Kenosha News www.kenoshanews.com
Some aldermen seem so eager to knock down the old Roosevelt Theatre, you’d think someone was waiting in the wings with a proposal for a condo development on the site.
But there isn’t anything else planned for the property. Impatient as some city officials may be about the lack of progress on the old theater at 2908 Roosevelt Road, it seems pretty clear that rehabilitating the building is a far better option than knocking it down. Since there is evidence that the theater owners have some new money behind them, the Kenosha City Council made the correct decision Monday night when it voted 9-7 to delay the wrecking ball by at least another two weeks.
As Alderman Donald Ruef pointed out at Monday’s meeting, it costs the city nothing to wait a little longer, and if the building is knocked down, all the city gains is another vacant lot.
For more than a year now, as the city threatened to knock down the vacant 80-year-old building, various people have expressed interest in reviving the Roosevelt, but no one seemed willing to invest the kind of money the project requires. Now the theater owners say they have a backer willing to pay the $20,000 in back taxes and special assessments and invest $300,000 in the building.
It ought to be worth waiting a couple weeks to see if that investment materializes. If it does, the city can save the money it would cost – about $185,000 – to knock the building down, and the city can collect back taxes and future taxes. The neighborhood would also get a theater, which could help other businesses in the area.
If the investment comes through, the Roosevelt Theatre saga would be a likely basis for a Disney-style movie: Tenacious, idealistic owners (good guys) hold off the bill collectors, bankers and building inspectors (bad guys) long enough for another idealistic partner to show up with a check. It could be an entertaining show, but in a good movie, the story line has to keep moving. The Roosevelt Theatre story is at the point where someone has to show up with the money soon, or there’s no happy ending.
But just the possibility of a happy ending is worth a little more time.
Council again defers razing the Roosevelt
July 22, 2008
Money from anonymous donor may be delivered later this week
MATTHEW OLSON – Kenosha News www.kenoshanews.com
The show will go on for at least two more weeks at the Roosevelt Theatre.
The Kenosha City Council on Monday voted 9-7 to defer approving contracts to remove asbestos and demolish the Roosevelt Theatre, 2908 Roosevelt Road.
The council is waiting for an anonymous donor who has pledged to pay the $20,000 in back taxes and special assessments levied against the building and spend about $300,000 to weatherproof the 80-year-old theater, which has been vacant for about 20 years.
The contracts to abate and raze the theater are valued at about $185,000.
Kathryn Hannemann, co-owner of the theater, said Monday that those funds were not available on Monday, but could be released on Thursday. The donor is still anonymous, but Hannemann said the individual was female and the funds, totaling $500,000, were coming from an inheritance.
The building was first condemned by the city in June 2007. A potential sale offer last summer led to an injunction to block that raze order. A stipulation was reached on Jan. 2 between the city and theater co-owners Hannemann and Jon Gee, but the first deadline to pay back taxes was missed a few weeks later.
“This has been going on for years,” Alderman Daniel Prozanski said. “This was not a two-weeks-ago problem that popped up. I think we need to take action.”
Alderman Don Ruef questioned the expediency to take the building down.
“It’s costing us nothing by having it sitting there,” Ruef said. “If we take it down, there’s another vacant lot that doesn’t do anyone any good.”
Other alderman said they were willing to wait two more weeks for results, but did not expect to wait any longer.
“I think it’s worth one more shot,” Tod Ohnstad said. “But if it doesn’t happen in two weeks, I’ll make a motion to approve the contracts.”
Jim Schultz, the city’s director for Neighborhood Services and Inspections, said there were some concerns about the safety of the building, but the city would prefer to see it renovated.
“It would be our desire to see it rehabilitated, but we have no indication that will happen,” Schultz said.
Hannemann said a multi-purpose use was being considered for the building. Alderman Ray Misner asked the city to suggest other options.
A few residents also spoke in support of preserving the theater.
Louis Rugani encouraged the city to take deed of the property. Former aldermanic candidate Steve Bostrom said the building could be a wonderful asset to the neighborhood and the city if it was fully functioning.
Further research shows that the Virginian Theatre was built of frame construction in 1870 with two storefronts at street level and a hall upstairs, as was common in assembly halls of the period. At some point around 1905, a Frank O'Brien remodeled the building to combine the storefronts into a 600-seat ground-level theatre and naming the revamped showplace the Bijou, which would close its doors around early 1913. In that eight-or-so-year window, films and live acts had been featured for an admission price of 10 to 20 cents.
Within six months, the theatre was renamed the Princess and soon, ticket prices dropped to five cents, probably because of direct comptition from nearby theatres including the Majestic.
By 1915, the theatre was renamed the Virginian Theatre, and it was under the direction of Al Meis, who instituted a more aggressive show policy including live all-girl chorus lines. But as competition increased from seven nearby theatres including the ornate new 1922 Orpheum (qv) a half-block east, the Virginian Theatre closed for good at the time the Orpheum opened, and the building reverted to retail space, a role which continues today.
ZION — City commissioners are kicking around the idea of imposing an amusement tax, not as a new source of revenue but to help expand Zion’s one and only movie theater. Gurnee has such a tax and boasts Six Flags Great America. Zion’s sole privately owned entertainment business is the small, old Dunes Theater at 3398 Sheridan Road, the last remaining theater in Zion, and, so far, would be the only business subject to a proposed entertainment tax. Mayor Lane Harrison said the tax probably would not be adopted. “I don’t think we even want to pursue it. There are just too many unanswered questions,” he said, pointing to the legality for a municipality to level such a tax and then rebate it to the theater for use in expansion. The suggested amount of tax would be 5 cents per ticket. Harrison said there have been talks about expanding the three-screen theater, owned by Ryan Industries, to eight screens. He stressed that the Dunes has ample room to expand into an “enormous parking lot that is unused.”
A 5 cents-per-ticket tax would generate between $25,000 and $30,000 a year, according to some estimates. If the Dunes is expanded, revenue from the tax could reach $75,000. That’s a fraction of what Gurnee receives from its 3 percent tax. Last year the village collected $2.56 million in amusement taxes, according to Jim Hayner, village administrator. “It’s a good revenue,” he said. “In fact, the best revenue apart from sales taxes.” The revenue last year included $1.75 million from Great America, $175,000 from the Marcus theaters at Gurnee Mills, $20,000 from golf courses and $1,700 from an ice rink, also at the mall.
As a leader in amusement taxes, Hayner said other municipalities would often consult with Gurnee. Zion hopes to expand its tiny amusement sector, Harrison said, citing plans to build an eight-screen movie house at the northeast corner of Route 173 and Green Bay Road. A developer has shown an interest in the project, he said. “We have the demographics for it,” he said.
Zion is seeking new revenues to fill the vacuum created when ComEd closed its nuclear generating plant, once the city’s major employer and payer of real estate taxes.
The Roosevelt Theater, on Roosevelt Road east of 30th Avenue, has been empty for more than 20 years. The city has put a raze order on the building, but a group has proposed buying the building and turning it into an entertainment venue.
Revive the Roosevelt?
Sept. 27, 2007
Group hopes to save long-vacant theater from raze order
MATTHEW OLSON
The Roosevelt Theater could reopen its box office or close its curtains. The theater, built in 1927 near the intersection of 30th Avenue and Roosevelt Road, has hosted vaudeville acts, live performances and movies and housed businesses such as bowling alleys throughout its life. But for the last 20 years, the building has stood vacant.
Now a community group has come forward, hoping to revive the building as a home for the performing arts and community events. “We’ve put together a great group of people that are willing to put their hard-earned money and sweat equity into this and they really want to see the theater become something good for the community,” said Raymond Salerno, who heads the group looking to purchase the building from Jon Gee and Kathryn Hanneman, who have owned it since 2000.
Last year, Salerno proposed a football-related event in the city, but his plan was rejected due to the city wanting more details. But Salerno said he is gathering good support for the theater project. Salerno wants to bring musical acts, comedy and family entertainment to the theater and also use it for community events. Salerno said he hopes to donate a portion of the profits back to the community.
“It will be very lengthy and costly in terms of materials, but we have some general contractors on my team that have the talent and ability to refurbish this theater for the community,” Salerno said. Gee also hoped the building could be used for children’s and community activities. “I couldn’t imagine what this could do for the whole area,” Gee said. “You see a lot of young people leaving these cities, and I think this will provide something.”
Complicating matters is a raze order that was put on the building by the city in June. “We determined the cost of the repairs exceeded the values of the building,” City Property Maintenance Division Supervisor Mitch Engen said. “The building continues to deteriorate, and we looked at what it would take to secure the building, and we felt we had sufficient evidence to proceed with the raze order.” The building has been assessed at about $60,000.
Gee said there has been some new plumbing and other improvements performed over the last seven years, but Engen said further repairs are still needed.
Steve Casey, the alderman for this district, said he concurs with the raze order. “We’ve given the current owners every opportunity to develop the site for going on 10 years,” Casey said. “The city has had to enforce its ordinance for tuckpointing and graffiti, and there’s been no development. I think the city is tired of waiting. It’s time to move things along one way or another.”
Hannemann said she hoped for more cooperation from the city. “They made the decision to raze the building in the face of people willing to improve the exterior,” Hannemann said. “What we are presenting is viable. These projects don’t happen quickly. But as they begin to develop, more people come on board.”
Gee said this building is important. “You just have so much valuable architectural history and community in there,” Gee said. “There’s a lot of buildings in equal or worse shape than this one. Why would you want to tear it down when it can be fixed?”
The city is not trying to block any potential sale, Assistant City Attorney Bill Richardson said. “We’re not a party to that transaction,” Richardson said. “We have a process that we’re following with this raze order…. Does it impact the sale? I’m sure it does. But the city is not looking to stand in the way of the sale. They’re just looking to protect the city.”
Gee and Hannemann have filed an injunction against the raze order. A motion hearing is scheduled for Oct. 11.
In addition, the theater owners have filed a petition for local historic consideration. That request will be considered at an Oct. 16 Historic Preservation Committee meeting.
The owners said the new plans for the building are viable. “The marketing surveys in northern Illinois and Milwaukee have been very positive, and people said they would travel to a theater like that,” Gee said. “People would love to have somewhere else to go. And for people who have lived in Kenosha, there’s a lot of fond memories there.”
Salerno said he just wants a shot at this idea. “All I’m asking for is an opportunity to show people that this theater can be a positive for the community,” Salerno said. “This is about what we as a people and group can do.” Gee and Hannemann ran a facility in Milwaukee that hosted a variety of musicians and have done feasibility studies for other entertainment venues.
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The Lyric was built in 1925, and closed on September 7, 2007. Large crowds were in attendance for the final shows. The city is looking for reuse plans and the Lyric is for sale.
Here View link is a hometown-paper article with a color photo of the Regency’s echo-Deco facade.
(Racine Journal Times, January 19, 2009)â€" In the midst of a deep recession, this county’s only budget theater, Regency Cinema, will close in April.
Marcus Theatres Corp. spokesman Carlo Petrick confirmed Monday morning that the budget theater at 5230 Durand Ave. on the fringe of Regency Mall will close when its lease ends in mid-April.
Regency Cinema became a budget theater in November 2006 when the 13-screen Marcus Cinema at the Renaissance opened in Renaissance Business Park.
Asked if the eight-screen Regency has not fared well as a budget cinema, Petrick replied, “It’s a very old theater location and does not have all the amenities of a new theater.†Also, Marcus has the Renaissance to fill that need, he added.
Regency Cinema has no future as a cinema and may be razed, Regency Mall Manager Curt Pruitt said Monday. “We are not seeking another theater operator,†he said.
“We’re exploring razing the building, and Marcus is working with us to make that happen,†but no final decision has been made, Pruitt said.
One option is to demolish the building to make a “totally clean slate to work with as we market that land,†he said.
If the mall’s owners, CBL & Associates Properties, keep the building, the sloped floors would be leveled for another use.
“The value cinema has not made money for Marcus,†Pruitt said.
The theater’s manager could not immediately be reached for comment. But Bob Tapp, 50, an assistant manager who has worked there for 20 years, said he thought the local movie-going population was never fully aware that the Regency had become a “value†cinema. He often met people who expressed surprise when they learned that.
Some, after hearing the theater will close, are somewhat crestfallen, Tapp said. “People are saying, ‘With the economy the way it is, why aren’t you guys staying open?’â€
However, Tapp acknowledged Petrick’s point that the Regency has an antiquated floor plan. “The aisle in the middle is an old concept,†and the theater has other outmoded aspects, he said.
General Cinema built the theater and also the now defunct Westgate Theater, Tapp said. Marcus added two screens to the Regency when it took over the theater.
Tapp said the Regency has about 20-25 employees, most of them part-time. He doesn’t know what’s next for him.
“I love working at the movie theater,†Tapp said. “I’ve always loved movies, so this was like a dream job for me.â€
Marcus Theatres, a division of The Marcus Corp., is the seventh-largest theater chain in the country and currently owns or operates 679 screens at 56 locations in Wisconsin and the Midwest.
A few new movie palaces are being built, mostly in the suburbs. As an example, there’s the MUVICO in Rosemont, Illinois.
I ran across a 1941 Boxoffice Magazine article that reported the BRANDT Theatre was to open in October 1941 with 750 seats and that land owner/developer William Brandt and promoter Nat Bernstein of Hammond, Indiana were the prime motivators.
The foyer with its poster cases can be seen in ‘The Believers’ (1979).
URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2981500010087069752qgYohO]
[/url]
<img src=“http://thumb12.webshots.net/t/73/73/5/0/1/2981500010087069752qgYohO_th.jpg” alt=“1927 – Gateway Theatre”>This is the opening-week ad in the Kenosha Evening News:
“… you can find a wall that seems to be hollow indicating it was added after the original construction and would indicate the entry to that part of the building. Still trying to track down more information …” No one seems to know what that was all about, but it never opened into the theatre although I’ve seen the poster photo. The Saxe Brothers chain may have been posting one-sheets there pending leasing or selling that portion of the property. That Rapp & Rapp-designed storefront is still there on Sixth Avenue and it may have been designed as the original entrance with the actual entrance added later, or as an auxiliary entrance and exit that was omitted at the last moment for economic reasons. A local story said that building codes prohibited a Sixth Avenue entrance, though that’s illogical as the KENOSHA, ORPHEUM and earler MAJESTIC all had Sixth Avenue entrances. There’s a storefront to the west of the Gateway also designed by Rapp & Rapp. A rooftop garden is still possible above the 56th Street entrance as there’s a door leading directly to it.
Reopening the Tower Theater could ignite the redevelopment of North 27th Street in Milwaukee, but the cost of the project makes it a tough play.
The SOHI District, which represents the area south of Highland Avenue, wants to attract a theater troupe to use the space. But the building has been vacant for more than a decade and will need dramatic improvements before it can be used for rehearsals or other events, said Keith Stanley, SOHI District manager.
“I think the cost is the main issue,†he said, adding, “It could be something that turns the corner for the district.â€
The SOHI District is trying to bring new development to 27th Street between Highland and St. Paul avenues through streetscape improvements, police cameras and efforts to attract businesses.
Establishing arts communities is a proven way to bring companies to an area, Stanley said, and there’s room for production space and offices in the building.
“We’ve seen places throughout the country â€" that are in the same position we are in â€" use art as a way to promote commercial revitalization,†he said.
A little more than 10 years ago, Milwaukee County bought the Tower Theater with a cluster of buildings that includes two towers now used for county offices, said Jack Takerian, county director of facility management. The county doesn’t use the space, he said.
“There have been some theater companies that have contacted us over the years, interested in the space,†he said. “But nothing has developed.â€
Tower’s previous owner, Family Hospital, ripped out many of the seats to make room for a cafeteria and erected walls for offices, Takerian said. The seats must be replaced and the walls removed before it’s a theater again, he said.
“Their thought process,†he said, “was the theater was an open space for them to do a variety of different things.â€
The county never planned to use the space as a theater, Takerian said, but welcomes the SOHI District’s help in trying to find a group to use the space.
“That partnership with SOHI â€" Keith and his group â€" is essential to turning that development around,†he said.
Stanley said his group is just starting to hunt for a theater troupe and doesn’t expect the project to turn over quickly.
“It’s a unique building,†he said. “I would hate to lose it, but you never know how things are going to pan out.â€
A great facade, one of my favorites. Where did all those windows open into?
<img src=“http://thumb12.webshots.net/t/72/72/3/69/47/2570369470087069752aiNSkI_th.jpg” alt=“Roosevelt Theatre”> October 6th, 2008.
Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6u9ZVnYSxU is a brief demolition video from Monday, October 6, 2008.
From the Kenosha News, Oct.7, 2008:
The west side of the 80-year-old Roosevelt Theatre was taken down on Monday morning. The 80-year-old theater, which was first condemned last summer, was scheduled for demolition due to deteriorating conditions. About $150,000 in back taxes was also owed on the property. The theater hosted live performances, vaudeville and movies during its lifespan, but had been vacant for about 20 years.
The Roosevelt’s last act
Crews begin demolition of historic local theater
MATTHEW OLSON
The curtain has officially fallen on the Roosevelt Theatre.
Crews from Racine-based Azarian Wrecking demolished the western side of the 80-year-old theater, 2908 Roosevelt Road, on Monday morning and the rest of the building will soon follow.
Mitch Engen, property division maintenance supervisor for the city, said there was no clear time line on when the building would be completely brought down. But the entire demolition and clean-up of the site is expected to take a few months.
Some interior preparations using cutting saws were completed and exterior barricades put in place last week to prepare for this week’s more noticeable demolition of the theater, which housed live theater, vaudeville and movies during its history, but had been vacant for about 20 years. (Note: Actually since mid-March of 1985)
Asbestos was emoved from the building last month by Gilbert, Ill.-based Champion Environmental Inc. a process which Engen said took about three weeks.
The theater was first condemned in June of 2007, but building owners Jon Gee and Kathryn Hannemann filed an injunction, amid discussions of a potential buyer for the theater, and a stipulation was reached this January.
The stipulation’s first deadline for paying back taxes was missed and no offer came forward for the building, setting it up for demolition again. The building’s owners owed about $150,000 in taxes on the theater and the cost of weather-proofing the building was estimated at around $300,000. Hannemann spoke of a potential benefactor who was interested in donating $500,000 to the project over a number of City Council meetings this summer, but the council voted in August to take the building down when that offer did not materialize.
The site will be backfilled and covered with topsoil and grass seed. Engen said where the land goes beyond that is still to be determined.
“The land will still be owned by the owners of record, but they are behind in their taxes,” Engen said. ‘The county may take that land or the city look at it as a potential redevelopment site. But it will still be owned by the owners of record at the end of the year."
The contract for asbestos removal was about $37,000 and the demolition price for the theater was estimated at $147,477.
Gee or Hannemann could not be reached for comment on Monday, but City Attorney Patrick Sheehan said the city has not received notice of any further action from the owners regarding the site.
Reader Comments:
I can’t say I’ll miss it as I’ve never been there.
But it would have made a good “Live” stage for groups to do the acts before bigtime ! Another wasted chance by our famous city papa’s.
hollydr
Oct. 7 – 05:54:58
What a shame! I wish the nearly $200,000 went to fixing up sidewalks versus tearing down an old building!
Pablo
Oct. 7 – 07:34:13
Breaks my heart…. Someone please send me a small peice
timarb
Oct. 7 – 08:11:19
It was a great theater !!! Went to many movies there as a teenager. I think they used to do The Rocky Horror Show too. I’d have to ask my kids or maybe someone in this forum knows. Kenosha had some great movie houses. The Lake Theater and of course The Orpheum. I’d like to know if the citizens of Kenosha can help themselves to some bricks for old times sake.
dmcs
Oct. 7 – 08:51:33
The ROOSEVELT Theatre: December 25, 1927 – October 6, 2008.
Demolition began this morning. RIP
Thanks for the cement-slab story. The Rhodes Theatre in Chicago also had a collection of such footprints and signatures. When I visited Marquette that one time long ago, their sidewalks were carrying embossed warnings from the city fathers against spitting.
Here’s a 1927 postcard view of the KENOSHA Theatre looking to the southeast: View link
THe interior is intact except for the proscenium and some minor cases of the usual water-damage holes in flat plaster, both of which can easily be repaired.
Vote your opinion on demolition here: http://wlip.com/pages/68731.php? You don’t need to sign in or register.
No rush to create a vacant lot
July 23, 2008
Possibility of rehabbing Roosevelt Theatre is worth more time
EDITORIAL – Kenosha News www.kenoshanews.com
Some aldermen seem so eager to knock down the old Roosevelt Theatre, you’d think someone was waiting in the wings with a proposal for a condo development on the site.
But there isn’t anything else planned for the property. Impatient as some city officials may be about the lack of progress on the old theater at 2908 Roosevelt Road, it seems pretty clear that rehabilitating the building is a far better option than knocking it down. Since there is evidence that the theater owners have some new money behind them, the Kenosha City Council made the correct decision Monday night when it voted 9-7 to delay the wrecking ball by at least another two weeks.
As Alderman Donald Ruef pointed out at Monday’s meeting, it costs the city nothing to wait a little longer, and if the building is knocked down, all the city gains is another vacant lot.
For more than a year now, as the city threatened to knock down the vacant 80-year-old building, various people have expressed interest in reviving the Roosevelt, but no one seemed willing to invest the kind of money the project requires. Now the theater owners say they have a backer willing to pay the $20,000 in back taxes and special assessments and invest $300,000 in the building.
It ought to be worth waiting a couple weeks to see if that investment materializes. If it does, the city can save the money it would cost – about $185,000 – to knock the building down, and the city can collect back taxes and future taxes. The neighborhood would also get a theater, which could help other businesses in the area.
Link: http://www.cuw.edu/kenosha/
If the investment comes through, the Roosevelt Theatre saga would be a likely basis for a Disney-style movie: Tenacious, idealistic owners (good guys) hold off the bill collectors, bankers and building inspectors (bad guys) long enough for another idealistic partner to show up with a check. It could be an entertaining show, but in a good movie, the story line has to keep moving. The Roosevelt Theatre story is at the point where someone has to show up with the money soon, or there’s no happy ending.
But just the possibility of a happy ending is worth a little more time.
Comments are welcome at www.kenoshanews.com and then click Opinions.
Council again defers razing the Roosevelt
July 22, 2008
Money from anonymous donor may be delivered later this week
MATTHEW OLSON – Kenosha News www.kenoshanews.com
The show will go on for at least two more weeks at the Roosevelt Theatre.
The Kenosha City Council on Monday voted 9-7 to defer approving contracts to remove asbestos and demolish the Roosevelt Theatre, 2908 Roosevelt Road.
The council is waiting for an anonymous donor who has pledged to pay the $20,000 in back taxes and special assessments levied against the building and spend about $300,000 to weatherproof the 80-year-old theater, which has been vacant for about 20 years.
The contracts to abate and raze the theater are valued at about $185,000.
Kathryn Hannemann, co-owner of the theater, said Monday that those funds were not available on Monday, but could be released on Thursday. The donor is still anonymous, but Hannemann said the individual was female and the funds, totaling $500,000, were coming from an inheritance.
Link: http://www.cuw.edu/kenosha/
The building was first condemned by the city in June 2007. A potential sale offer last summer led to an injunction to block that raze order. A stipulation was reached on Jan. 2 between the city and theater co-owners Hannemann and Jon Gee, but the first deadline to pay back taxes was missed a few weeks later.
“This has been going on for years,” Alderman Daniel Prozanski said. “This was not a two-weeks-ago problem that popped up. I think we need to take action.”
Alderman Don Ruef questioned the expediency to take the building down.
“It’s costing us nothing by having it sitting there,” Ruef said. “If we take it down, there’s another vacant lot that doesn’t do anyone any good.”
Other alderman said they were willing to wait two more weeks for results, but did not expect to wait any longer.
“I think it’s worth one more shot,” Tod Ohnstad said. “But if it doesn’t happen in two weeks, I’ll make a motion to approve the contracts.”
Jim Schultz, the city’s director for Neighborhood Services and Inspections, said there were some concerns about the safety of the building, but the city would prefer to see it renovated.
“It would be our desire to see it rehabilitated, but we have no indication that will happen,” Schultz said.
Hannemann said a multi-purpose use was being considered for the building. Alderman Ray Misner asked the city to suggest other options.
A few residents also spoke in support of preserving the theater.
Louis Rugani encouraged the city to take deed of the property. Former aldermanic candidate Steve Bostrom said the building could be a wonderful asset to the neighborhood and the city if it was fully functioning.
Further research shows that the Virginian Theatre was built of frame construction in 1870 with two storefronts at street level and a hall upstairs, as was common in assembly halls of the period. At some point around 1905, a Frank O'Brien remodeled the building to combine the storefronts into a 600-seat ground-level theatre and naming the revamped showplace the Bijou, which would close its doors around early 1913. In that eight-or-so-year window, films and live acts had been featured for an admission price of 10 to 20 cents.
Within six months, the theatre was renamed the Princess and soon, ticket prices dropped to five cents, probably because of direct comptition from nearby theatres including the Majestic.
By 1915, the theatre was renamed the Virginian Theatre, and it was under the direction of Al Meis, who instituted a more aggressive show policy including live all-girl chorus lines. But as competition increased from seven nearby theatres including the ornate new 1922 Orpheum (qv) a half-block east, the Virginian Theatre closed for good at the time the Orpheum opened, and the building reverted to retail space, a role which continues today.
ZION — City commissioners are kicking around the idea of imposing an amusement tax, not as a new source of revenue but to help expand Zion’s one and only movie theater. Gurnee has such a tax and boasts Six Flags Great America. Zion’s sole privately owned entertainment business is the small, old Dunes Theater at 3398 Sheridan Road, the last remaining theater in Zion, and, so far, would be the only business subject to a proposed entertainment tax. Mayor Lane Harrison said the tax probably would not be adopted. “I don’t think we even want to pursue it. There are just too many unanswered questions,” he said, pointing to the legality for a municipality to level such a tax and then rebate it to the theater for use in expansion. The suggested amount of tax would be 5 cents per ticket. Harrison said there have been talks about expanding the three-screen theater, owned by Ryan Industries, to eight screens. He stressed that the Dunes has ample room to expand into an “enormous parking lot that is unused.”
A 5 cents-per-ticket tax would generate between $25,000 and $30,000 a year, according to some estimates. If the Dunes is expanded, revenue from the tax could reach $75,000. That’s a fraction of what Gurnee receives from its 3 percent tax. Last year the village collected $2.56 million in amusement taxes, according to Jim Hayner, village administrator. “It’s a good revenue,” he said. “In fact, the best revenue apart from sales taxes.” The revenue last year included $1.75 million from Great America, $175,000 from the Marcus theaters at Gurnee Mills, $20,000 from golf courses and $1,700 from an ice rink, also at the mall.
As a leader in amusement taxes, Hayner said other municipalities would often consult with Gurnee. Zion hopes to expand its tiny amusement sector, Harrison said, citing plans to build an eight-screen movie house at the northeast corner of Route 173 and Green Bay Road. A developer has shown an interest in the project, he said. “We have the demographics for it,” he said.
Zion is seeking new revenues to fill the vacuum created when ComEd closed its nuclear generating plant, once the city’s major employer and payer of real estate taxes.
From the News Sun
Discussion/News: www.onelist.com/group/RooseveltTheatre
The Roosevelt Theater, on Roosevelt Road east of 30th Avenue, has been empty for more than 20 years. The city has put a raze order on the building, but a group has proposed buying the building and turning it into an entertainment venue.
Revive the Roosevelt?
Sept. 27, 2007
Group hopes to save long-vacant theater from raze order
MATTHEW OLSON
The Roosevelt Theater could reopen its box office or close its curtains. The theater, built in 1927 near the intersection of 30th Avenue and Roosevelt Road, has hosted vaudeville acts, live performances and movies and housed businesses such as bowling alleys throughout its life. But for the last 20 years, the building has stood vacant.
Now a community group has come forward, hoping to revive the building as a home for the performing arts and community events. “We’ve put together a great group of people that are willing to put their hard-earned money and sweat equity into this and they really want to see the theater become something good for the community,” said Raymond Salerno, who heads the group looking to purchase the building from Jon Gee and Kathryn Hanneman, who have owned it since 2000.
Last year, Salerno proposed a football-related event in the city, but his plan was rejected due to the city wanting more details. But Salerno said he is gathering good support for the theater project. Salerno wants to bring musical acts, comedy and family entertainment to the theater and also use it for community events. Salerno said he hopes to donate a portion of the profits back to the community.
“It will be very lengthy and costly in terms of materials, but we have some general contractors on my team that have the talent and ability to refurbish this theater for the community,” Salerno said. Gee also hoped the building could be used for children’s and community activities. “I couldn’t imagine what this could do for the whole area,” Gee said. “You see a lot of young people leaving these cities, and I think this will provide something.”
Complicating matters is a raze order that was put on the building by the city in June. “We determined the cost of the repairs exceeded the values of the building,” City Property Maintenance Division Supervisor Mitch Engen said. “The building continues to deteriorate, and we looked at what it would take to secure the building, and we felt we had sufficient evidence to proceed with the raze order.” The building has been assessed at about $60,000.
Gee said there has been some new plumbing and other improvements performed over the last seven years, but Engen said further repairs are still needed.
Steve Casey, the alderman for this district, said he concurs with the raze order. “We’ve given the current owners every opportunity to develop the site for going on 10 years,” Casey said. “The city has had to enforce its ordinance for tuckpointing and graffiti, and there’s been no development. I think the city is tired of waiting. It’s time to move things along one way or another.”
Hannemann said she hoped for more cooperation from the city. “They made the decision to raze the building in the face of people willing to improve the exterior,” Hannemann said. “What we are presenting is viable. These projects don’t happen quickly. But as they begin to develop, more people come on board.”
Gee said this building is important. “You just have so much valuable architectural history and community in there,” Gee said. “There’s a lot of buildings in equal or worse shape than this one. Why would you want to tear it down when it can be fixed?”
The city is not trying to block any potential sale, Assistant City Attorney Bill Richardson said. “We’re not a party to that transaction,” Richardson said. “We have a process that we’re following with this raze order…. Does it impact the sale? I’m sure it does. But the city is not looking to stand in the way of the sale. They’re just looking to protect the city.”
Gee and Hannemann have filed an injunction against the raze order. A motion hearing is scheduled for Oct. 11.
In addition, the theater owners have filed a petition for local historic consideration. That request will be considered at an Oct. 16 Historic Preservation Committee meeting.
The owners said the new plans for the building are viable. “The marketing surveys in northern Illinois and Milwaukee have been very positive, and people said they would travel to a theater like that,” Gee said. “People would love to have somewhere else to go. And for people who have lived in Kenosha, there’s a lot of fond memories there.”
Salerno said he just wants a shot at this idea. “All I’m asking for is an opportunity to show people that this theater can be a positive for the community,” Salerno said. “This is about what we as a people and group can do.” Gee and Hannemann ran a facility in Milwaukee that hosted a variety of musicians and have done feasibility studies for other entertainment venues.
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The Lyric was built in 1925, and closed on September 7, 2007. Large crowds were in attendance for the final shows. The city is looking for reuse plans and the Lyric is for sale.