DuPage Theater
109 S. Main Street,
Lombard,
IL
60148
109 S. Main Street,
Lombard,
IL
60148
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1,026 - 1,050 of 1,253 comments
Article from today’s Daily Herald.
Will the Friends have the sense to abandon this condo plan and start lobbying for a way to save the theater and incorporate it into a much needed new library on the site? They better hurry..
View link
Well Deb, you see it right there. Even an advisory referendum would force the Trustees to rethink their vote on the razing of the Theatre, but yet the Friends come up with excuses NOT to do one—why is that? Certainly a group with as many members as you have would have NO PROBLEM doing a grassroots referendum to present to the Board, the State and the media, wouldn’t you? Like the old saying goes, “IF YOU’RE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM” Which one is the Friends going to be?
I would also advise you to stop engaging Theatre detractors on this web site. Let them stay on their own site. This site is for PRESERVATIONS, not PROPAGANDA. Engaging them, much like wild animals, only encourages them…
Challenger, your blood is up! :)
See what I mean about signatures and BINDING referendums? You say 4500 signatures don’t mean squat—-the same thing the board could say if we initiated a referendum. And, really, if 100 out of 4500+ signatures makes something skewed in your logic, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve been truthful. It doesn’t matter to you. So move on, Challenger. That other site needs you more than we do here.
Glad you came to the rally. What sign were you holding?
Cheers!
Marissa came to the meeting we had at the Library regarding the RSC plan. Dupe Neighbor, you just happen to sound a lot like her. Forgive me if I’m wrong about that.
Who’s Marissa? Methinks someone’s been reading the village voice..eh Jules?
Yes, the library will raise property taxes and it may be a hard sell – but unlike your plan, Lombardians will collectively decide and I’m ready to live with the outcome.
If you read up on the library’s website about why the last referendum failed you may see things differently. I think it can and will pass. If not, I won’t be sour grapes but I will still fight to see that we all get a say on how the “gift” is used. Especially if it is to exceed codes.
What about my comment about keeping the library and the theater or a portion of it? Can you see past this RSC plan or not?
Challenger, really, you missed everything else I said and focused on 100 signatures from a sister theatre, the Wheaton Grand. You well know where we collected our signatures—-mostly Taste of Lombard and Cruise Nights. It started with a bit over 200 at our rally. Friends asked their neighbors to sign petitions. I’m not talking out both sides of my mouth, I just thought that 100 out of 4500 was a drop in the bucket. Obviously, you feel differently, but I forgot you like to make mountains out of molehills.
Of course the TIF money will go into the theatre. It can’t go anywhere else. TIF district money must be used on the parcel it is designated for. Surprised you didn’t know that!
No smokescreens, Challenger. Just trying to determine why you and Marissa are so against this theatre plan because it uses “tax money” when you don’t seem concerned about any other use of TIF. Marissa, don’t forget that a library will raise property taxes—that’s a hard sell to the residents of this town. That’s why it would have to go to referendum.
First Deb says “The signatures gathered were from people that either live in Lombard or who were spending their time and money in Lombard.” Now she says 100 were from Wheaton. Now you are talking out of both sides of your mouth. I wonder how many other signatures were gathered from outside Lombard???
So you being a TIF expert, where will the property tax from the 86 condo’s go? Back into the Dupe and not into our schools or our Village coffers. Again, you twist the facts.
Quit jamming the referendum comment down my throat…scroll up I never commented on the referendum. That is not my cause. Neither is the library which I have stated here several times already. Get your facts straight please.
Funny you should bring up the Park District and conference center…smells like a smokescreen to me.
First Deb says “The signatures gathered were from people that either live in Lombard or who were spending their time and money in Lombard.” Now she says 100 were from Wheaton. Now you are talking out of both sides of your mouth. I wonder how many other signatures were gathered from outside Lombard???
So you being a TIF expert, where will the property tax from the 86 condo’s go? Back into the Dupe and not into our schools or our Village coffers. Again, you twist the facts.
Quit jamming the referendum comment down my throat…scroll up I never commented on the referendum. That is not my cause. Neither is the library which I have stated here several times already. Get your facts straight please.
Funny you should bring up the Park District and conference center…smells like a smokescreen to me.
We’re glad YOU feel it’s worth the risk. What about the rest of us? Is this one special interest group deciding what’s best for the heart of our downtown? Why not all the voters of Lombard deciding how to use the property we were gifted?
You still don’t get it and you never will.
Don’t be too sure about the library – I think it will garner much more support than you expect. Maybe they can even keep the theater or some of the historical fixtures of it to incorporate into the new library? Either way – the voters will decide… which is the way it should be!
We’re glad YOU feel it’s worth the risk. What about the rest of us? Is this one special interest group deciding what’s best for the heart of our downtown? Why not all the voters of Lombard deciding how to use the property we were gifted?
You still don’t get it and you never will.
Don’t be too sure about the library – I think it will garner much more support than you expect. Maybe they can even keep the theater or some of the historical fixtures of it to incorporate into the new library? Either way – the voters will decide… which is the way it should be!
We’re glad YOU feel it’s worth the risk. What about the rest of us? Is this one special interest group deciding what’s best for the heart of our downtown? Why not all the voters of Lombard deciding how to use the property we were gifted?
You still don’t get it and you never will.
Don’t be too sure about the library – I think it will garner much more support than you expect. Maybe they can even keep the theater or some of the historical fixtures of it to incorporate into the new library? Either way – the voters will decide… which is the way it should be!
Challenger, were you throwing eggs? None made it on my face. You must have bad aim…
Currently, there is a vote to raze the theatre. That means any referendum we would initiate would be advisory only. We need a BINDING referendum, otherwise, what’s the point? The board can just say it doesn’t mean anything—-no matter what the outcome.
I believe, Challenger, that you don’t really care how much money we raised. You’d prefer to keep to your erroneous $1200 figure, and that’s fine, because it further shows how obtuse you and yours are. You know we had more fundraisers than a “lemonade stand” or a “pot-luck dinner,” yet you don’t care to acknowledge that fact. Many thousands of dollars from our fundraisers went into the effort to save the theatre. Evidently, your contribution from a glass of lemonade was part of that. So thanks!
The TIF district on the site doesn’t expire until 2007. I believe Senator Cronin will get us the extension. Yes, the “T” means tax, but not property tax. Why don’t you care that the Park District spends millions in TIF? Why don’t you care how any of the other TIF district money is spent? I think the village is currently prepared to spend in excess of $700,000 in TIF money to redo our “streetscapes” along Main and St. Charles. Does that bother you? Do you know where all the other TIF money in this town goes? Or how much of it is being used on the “Conference Center?”
The library will raise property taxes and has a snowball’s chance down below to pass referendum. I’m glad to know we agree on that one.
The petition drive was meant to include all that would benefit from the theatre. That includes kids. I see nothing wrong with giving the young people in our town a voice. Again, this was an advisory petition. As far as the Wheaton Grand, they contributed about 100 signatures to our cause—-interestingly enough, some of those people were Lombardians! Maybe even you, since your timing was right!
The risks involved to the taxpayers of this town with regards to the RSC plan are slim to none. Let’s face it, you can always find something wrong with anything if you try hard enough. Buying a house is full of risks. Buying a car is full of risks. Having kids is full of risks. Life is full of risks, but look at the odds. In this case, with RSC and Daniel P. Coffey’s track record, I feel pretty good about taking a risk. Because the outcome would be well worth the choice to save the DuPage Theatre.
Deb, again thanks for supporting my theory of the ‘friends". I DO know a lot about fundraising, having done some myself. I collected far more money for NEDSRA than you did at your pot-luck dinner or your lemonade stand. Now wipe the egg off your face and read on.
You say that the money doesn’t concern me. Who does it concern then? Only the members of your special interest group. As a resident and taxpayer of this town the Theatre is as much mine as is it yours. You simply won’t divulge how much is in the bank because it is embarrassing. Therefore I will stick with the number I was told $1200 for 6 years of work.
Your comment “you personally have anything to do with our actions to save the DuPage Theatre”. Well I have contributed money so that comment was wrong. Now wipe the egg off your face and read on.
Funny about your library post. Did you read the Daily Herald today? Library interested in Dupe site.
I know enough about TIF to know that your group doesn’t have it, and are not guaranteed to get it. I also know that the “T” in TIF means TAX.
Regarding your petition drive…do you deny that some of those signatures were acquired from outside the Wheaton theatre? I also saw children signing your drive so your numbers are somewhat skewed.
A great comment was just made “ the risks involved to the taxpayers of this town if the restoration goes over budget or if the theatre does not financially succeed ” Now wipe the egg off your face.
What are you waiting for? The “opportunity” will not “come forth”, you needed to initiate it! You should have done that months ago. That property belongs to the village (ALL of us) and any use of the land, especially a use that requires millions of our TIF dollars and a code exceeding condo building should have put to the people long ago.
If the details of this particular redevelopment plan are spelled out for voters – I don’t think it will pass. There is a big difference between signing a petition to save the theatre and authorizing the use of millions of our TIF dollars to restore it. Not to mention the risks involved to the taxpayers of this town if the restoration goes over budget or if the theatre does not financially succeed.
There is really only one way to know for sure – referendum!
A follow up. The Friends of the DuPage Theatre did a petition drive which collected more than 4,500 signatures in 3 weeks. They were presented to the Board at their July 21st meeting. The signatures gathered were from people that either live in Lombard or who were spending their time and money in Lombard. We did not go door-to-door, as this was an advisory petition, not binding, and we didn’t have much time from one board meeting to the next to accomplish it.
We would also be happy to participate in a LEGALLY WORDED and BINDING referendum to save the DuPage Theatre. If the opportunity came forth, we would gladly to go door-to-door to get the necessary signatures in a legal and binding manner. We have never worried that we would not have public support for a fair, legal and binding referendum. In fact, our experience gathering signatures in early July made clear that the majority of people we encountered were theatre supporters.
Again, Challenger, the Friends and the Foundation are two different entities with two different bank accounts. I will not divulge to you the amount the Friends has in our bank account, because truthfully it doesn’t concern you. The Foundation is inactive, so whatever they had left in their accounts went to the village (since they were established by the village).
I also find it amusing that you think we haven’t been “working our butts off” these last years. How wrong your assessment of the situation is and how egocentric you must be to think you personally have anything to do with our actions to save the DuPage Theatre. Who are you anyway, really? Some guy who parks in the theatre lot everyday who thinks he knows all the answers? Again, you’ve offered no expertise. You hide behind your screen name. And you’ve offered nothing constructive to the dialog—-just accusations and “questions” you demand answered. Why don’t you go to a real source—-not Sebby or Biddle or Lentsch—-to find answers. Or come meet with me, off the record. And make it lemonade, if that’s your preference.
Your library post makes me giggle because your buddy Biddle keeps touting it. He obviously has higher hopes than we do! :) No, I don’t think you’re a “bad guy,” but I don’t think you know the first thing about fundraising, TIF or anything else regarding financing the restoration of the theatre. If you did, you’d realize what a great plan the RSC proposal is, and join our ranks as supporters. Until then….all my best.
That’s funny, I saw a snapshot of the books on the other website and that’s what it said. I am going by what I have seen. If it is a different number tell me what it is. It’s not a number I am making up.
OK how much does the foundation have in the bank? Actually cash not promises, or pledges, or brick & mortar, etc.
I do like how you skated around my last post about the library. I am being reasonable here..I totally agree with your library comment, but we disagree about the Dupe. So that makes me a bad guy? No not really.
Let’s just say something good happens, and the theatre is restored, however it happens it doesn’t matter… BUT in the end you may realize that having people like us (so called anti-theatre) around pushed you people (so called pro-theatre) to work even harder.
We hardly heard from you guys from 2002 to 2004, now you seem to be working you butts off.
Challenger, again, please refrain from using your $1200. It just doesn’t add up and misrepresents all the hard work our group has put forth.
DEb, Deb, Deb, don’t put words in my mouth. I have NOT touted the library issue. Its sounds good on paper, but I agree with you about the referendum..it probably won'r pass.
Get your facts straight please.
Challenger, Challenger, Challenger. I wish you’d find a new number to hold on to. $1,200? We made ten times that at the “Light It Up” concert alone. I’m not sure who’s feeding you your data, but I sure wouldn’t bet the farm on their statistics.
And as for speaking for the “majority of taxpayers,” I doubt it. Again, your scare tactics are not working and don’t hold up to scrutiny. “Taxpayers” only care if this project will raise their property taxes. The RSC plan to restore the DuPage Theatre DOES NOT RAISE PROPERTY TAXES. Building a library there will—-and I know that’s what you and your buddy Biddle want built on the theatre property. But it will never pass referendum. “Taxpayers” don’t want the added tax burden. Of course, you and Biddle can always help the library board out and start “fundraising” on your own. I’d like to see how well you do.
Many small towns across this country have restored there main street theatres. Many cities have regrets that they tore down there only historic theatre. Most of these restored theatres are multi purpose theatres with concerts,plays,weddings,graduations and yes movies. It is good to ask tough questions but it is helpful to be constructive. I associate these historic theatres with our countries greatest generation and there parents. These historic theatres along with churches,train stations,museums and other civic buildings are the heart and soul of the community. My Mom comes from a small town of about 19,000 and they tore down there historic mainstreet and built this ugly cement box mall that is an embarrassment to the town. They would give anything to have there historic mainstreet back. They can’t restore what is no longer there. These old mainstreets, tourists love to visit and have helped revitalize many small towns which looked like they were dying.brucec
Let the record show I am NOT fiscal insanity. Why am I a wussie? Because I speak my opinion, the same opinion as a majority of taxpayers think.
Your comment sums up what I have said all along…unprofessional!
HERE’S what I think. You people NEED to get ahold of the politicians to help you to either DESTROY THE PLACE FOREVER…..OR….RESTORE IT LIKE IT LOOKED WHEN IT OPENED IN THE 1920’S……See what pull you have and who you might be able to schmooze. GET THEM ON RECORD. I heard one sector say that James “Pate” (hate stupid nicknames) Philip wants to keep it standing, but…BEING A POLITICIAN…GET IT ON RECORD!!!..YOU KNOW THAT MOST OF THEM LIE…..See who is on your side. Thay way, how EVER this thing goes….vote accordingly next election. You’d be surprised. It took a snowstorm to oust Bilandic and elect Byrne…..Chicago’s first woman mayor…(and probably the last for awhile)…..and a disenfranchised voting population to be bold and elect Harold Washington our first black mayor…..
Just remember…ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN WITH POLITICIANS…THEY SWOON AND SWAY WITH THE PUBLIC’S INPUT….GET ENOUGH IN YOUR CORNER AND YOU ARE SET…..
There was a great article in the Trib last week on the VIBRANT Downtown Arlington Heights nightlife with the Metropolis Centre, bars, people having fun downtown, etc…Lombard probably can’t BE THAT, maybe they don’t WANT TO, maybe the kids yearn to leave when they are old enough and the elders are complacent to let that happen. BUT….if Lombard wants a vibrant downtown open till at LEAST 10pm and later on the weekends, a theater is a catalyst for that. Maybe a brand new venue built from the ground up (with some architectural remnants saved from the Dupage)would be nice.
By the WAY….Are “fiscal insanity” and “challenger” the same person? I think we should have a meeting at MY place. ALL OF US…bet those two wussies wouldn’t even show….You KNOW my name….WHY THE ALIAS????…SCARED????
HERE’S what I think. You people NEED to get ahold of the politicians to help you to either DESTROY THE PLACE FOREVER…..OR….RESTORE IT LIKE IT LOOKED WHEN IT OPENED IN THE 1920’S……See what pull you have and who you might be able to schmooze. GET THEM ON RECORD. I heard one sector say that James “Pate” (hate stupid nicknames) Philip wants to keep it standing, but…BEING A POLITICIAN…GET IT ON RECORD!!!..YOU KNOW THAT MOST OF THEM LIE…..See who is on your side. Thay way, how EVER this thing goes….vote accordingly next election. You’d be surprised. It took a snowstorm to oust Bilandic and elect Byrne…..Chicago’s first woman mayor…(and probably the last for awhile)…..and a disenfranchised voting population to be bold and elect Harold Washington our first black mayor…..
Just remember…ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN WITH POLITICIANS…THEY SWOON AND SWAY WITH THE PUBLIC’S INPUT….GET ENOUGH IN YOUR CORNER AND YOU ARE SET…..
There was a great article in the Trib last week on the VIBRANT Downtown Arlington Heights nightlife with the Metropolis Centre, bars, people having fun downtown, etc…Lombard probably can’t BE THAT, maybe they don’t WANT TO, maybe the kids yearn to leave when they are old enough and the elders are complacent to let that happen. BUT….if Lombard wants a vibrant downtown open till at LEAST 10pm and later on the weekends, a theater is a catalyst for that. Maybe a brand new venue built from the ground up (with some architectural remnants saved from the Dupage)would be nice.
By the WAY….Are “fiscal insanity” and “challenger” the same person? I think we should have a meeting at MY place. ALL OF US…bet those two wussies wouldn’t even show….You KNOW my name….WHY THE ALIAS????…SCARED????
OK…I’ll put on a show there also when it opens. Please add me to your list of many organizations/groups have “committed”. How much have these many organizations/groups “committed” in $$ of the $1200 you have in the bank?