I would disagree with placing a permanent ‘open’ status on the DP Theater at this time. Reason being, the current owner seems to occasionally screen films but does not promote them on the marquee. You usually have to go to their website for any information on what is being shown – and that is infrequently.
Recently, a group called Deep Green had come to an agreement with the owner to screen English movies on weekends, beginning in May. Their plan was to alternate adult-themed films with childrens/family fare the following weekend. Last weekend was to feature Leonard DiCaprio’s “11th Hour”, while this weekend’s film, “Bee Movie” (with the voices of Jerry Seinfeld, et al) was postponed to the following weekend due to worries over the swine flu. Initial agreements are to have films run on weekends at least through June. See this article.
Well, if the DPTPS does decide to get rolling again, let’s hope that someone does some updating of the website. A good chunk of the newspaper articles links don’t work anymore. ;–)
And on another front, it seems like the Preservation Society hasn’t done much of anything in the past two years. It’s unknown if they even made enough to cover the rental of the Pickwick when the Silent Movie Society did a showing two years ago.
I am aware of the 2008 New Years screening of HSM2, did they rent the theater again last month as well? I didn’t see any advertising for it….
It seems as if the owners have occasionally been screening Hindi/Bollywood films from time to time. Most recently they advertised a film that screened only between Jan 30 – Feb 1. They don’t use the marquee at all. It still lists advertising for the Des Plaines Journal.
An interesting ad can be found on the website – they’re opening the theater to be rented. It still seems that it’s still split into two screens. It’s sad that someone didn’t think to knock out that wall as the Portage did to open up the entire space. Has anyone even seen the inside of the building at all recently?
My father grew up around the corner on Belle Plaine between Milwaukee and Cicero….and I grew up a little further west near Portage Park too…so I remember the Portage as a child and later in life.
The Portage has been doing pretty well as a specialty theater – doing weekly classic film showings, the occasional musical group (Rickie Lee Jones and Tegan & Sara have played there recently), and they’re home to a majority of the silent films playing in the Chicago area. You should check out their website (www.portagetheater.org – which seems to be temporarily down at the moment), they keep a schedule of what’s going on.
Honestly, they make pretty good coin working the specialty niches. Once the neighborhood gets back on track (namely Milwaukee Avenue), it’ll look much better. The inside is not intricately rehabbed (like the Patio Theater once was)…but it looks pretty good. Definitely serviceable now. Check it out when you can, Greene!
I’ve looked at the information from ADLABS online and yes, it’s a big Indian movie chain, but I looked around at both their website and the blurb from the Des Plaines Journal, and there’s nothing there that says it’s going to be a Hindi/Bollywood multiplex. I’m wondering if it’s a different ADLABS that’s going in there. Golf Mill already has the multi-screen theater running which pulls a decent attendance, but what I’m wondering about is the fact that the Des Plaines, under the Indian ownership, did not EVER look busy. It wasn’t open seven days a week, and pretty much shut down in January. The sad thing about the Des Plaines/Niles area is that there is no second run theaters close by. With the economy the way it is now, obviously a two or three dollar theater would do good business.
The current owner of the Des Plaines, according to a March 12, 2007 article, is now open to the idea of special movie presentations etc. at the theater. The Des Plaines Theater Preservation group claimed to have wanted to do more film showings but ownership decided to stop the ‘sharing of the wealth’ after the group (and others) assisted in refurbishing the theater several years ago. From what I’ve seen lately, the exterior (both upstairs and downstairs) have seen better days. When I see the overall condition of the exterior I automatically get flashbacks to the way the Patio looks on Irving Park and Austin nowadays. I certainly don’t want to see the Des Plaines fall apart again. It’s been that way before, and honestly, hasn’t been well taken care of in years. One only needs to look at the Portage Theater and the successes it’s having right now to say ‘this could be done with the Des Plaines."
Let’s hope so. Let’s hope that FINALLY someone can get an agreement and do something with the theater again. Interestingly enough, “High School Musical 2” didn’t do too bad, attendance-wise, during Des Plaines' New Years festivities.
I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but it looks like the Des Plaines Theater is shut down. Now, I might be wrong, but they’ve been advertising the same film (a Hindi film) since early January. Granted, the theater is only open on weekend evenings, but in driving in the area during those times it seems to be closed.
Does anyone have any information regarding the status of the theater?
If the Indian owners don’t want to keep the place open (not enough attendance to keep the lights on perhaps?) why don’t they sublet the theater back to individuals who can bring some income to the place? I realize it might not happen, but one can always hope.
I have been to the reopened Portage several times since 2006, and I’m happy there’s still a theater in my father’s old neighborhood (he lived off Belle Plaine around the corner from the theater) that’s functional, and is becoming more successful the longer it’s open. There needs to be more work done by the Six Corners Association to see what can be done about the run-down buildings on the east side of Milwaukee Avenue, where the department stores and the old Deluxe Record Store used to be (where the costume shop is now).
Only criticism I have – can they PLEASE get rid of that hot orange paint in the concession area? :)
It’s heartbreaking to see the condition of the Patio down at Austin/Irving Park Road though. I remember back in the late 1980s after a recent rehab how good it looked.
Also, the Des Plaines city council turned down a request for the city to possibly buy the building from the current ownership, which is sad givin their desire to continue to build more high-rise condo buildings. With the closing (again) of the Sugar Bowl restaurant, and Sims Bowl across the train tracks for sale, it seems there will be no change for the theater itself. And some historical landmarks of the downtown area are slowly fading away.
New Years Eve saw the theater rented by AM1300 (Radio Disney) for a screening of High School Musical 2 as part of the city’s new years festivities. There are no other plans for any other screenings at the theater at this time. Sad isn’t it?
Here is a small update regarding the Des Plaines Theater ~
The Des Plaines Theater Preservation Society held a fundraiser at the Pickwick Theater, featuring memorabilia and a program of silent comedies. They have nothing planned so far for any future fundraisers (according to the lack of information on their website), and the Pickwick attracted a modest (if not sold-out) crowd. Unfortunately they do not update their site much.
The Indian ownership still runs Hindi and Bollywood films, tho not on a seven-day basis.
Here are the related articles:
View link
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=291721&src=27
I would disagree with placing a permanent ‘open’ status on the DP Theater at this time. Reason being, the current owner seems to occasionally screen films but does not promote them on the marquee. You usually have to go to their website for any information on what is being shown – and that is infrequently.
Recently, a group called Deep Green had come to an agreement with the owner to screen English movies on weekends, beginning in May. Their plan was to alternate adult-themed films with childrens/family fare the following weekend. Last weekend was to feature Leonard DiCaprio’s “11th Hour”, while this weekend’s film, “Bee Movie” (with the voices of Jerry Seinfeld, et al) was postponed to the following weekend due to worries over the swine flu. Initial agreements are to have films run on weekends at least through June. See this article.
View link
Well, if the DPTPS does decide to get rolling again, let’s hope that someone does some updating of the website. A good chunk of the newspaper articles links don’t work anymore. ;–)
And on another front, it seems like the Preservation Society hasn’t done much of anything in the past two years. It’s unknown if they even made enough to cover the rental of the Pickwick when the Silent Movie Society did a showing two years ago.
I am aware of the 2008 New Years screening of HSM2, did they rent the theater again last month as well? I didn’t see any advertising for it….
Another update:
It seems as if the owners have occasionally been screening Hindi/Bollywood films from time to time. Most recently they advertised a film that screened only between Jan 30 – Feb 1. They don’t use the marquee at all. It still lists advertising for the Des Plaines Journal.
An interesting ad can be found on the website – they’re opening the theater to be rented. It still seems that it’s still split into two screens. It’s sad that someone didn’t think to knock out that wall as the Portage did to open up the entire space. Has anyone even seen the inside of the building at all recently?
A
My father grew up around the corner on Belle Plaine between Milwaukee and Cicero….and I grew up a little further west near Portage Park too…so I remember the Portage as a child and later in life.
The Portage has been doing pretty well as a specialty theater – doing weekly classic film showings, the occasional musical group (Rickie Lee Jones and Tegan & Sara have played there recently), and they’re home to a majority of the silent films playing in the Chicago area. You should check out their website (www.portagetheater.org – which seems to be temporarily down at the moment), they keep a schedule of what’s going on.
Honestly, they make pretty good coin working the specialty niches. Once the neighborhood gets back on track (namely Milwaukee Avenue), it’ll look much better. The inside is not intricately rehabbed (like the Patio Theater once was)…but it looks pretty good. Definitely serviceable now. Check it out when you can, Greene!
Here is the link to the other write-up. It was written on March 14th, not March 12th. My bad. ;)
View link
I’ve looked at the information from ADLABS online and yes, it’s a big Indian movie chain, but I looked around at both their website and the blurb from the Des Plaines Journal, and there’s nothing there that says it’s going to be a Hindi/Bollywood multiplex. I’m wondering if it’s a different ADLABS that’s going in there. Golf Mill already has the multi-screen theater running which pulls a decent attendance, but what I’m wondering about is the fact that the Des Plaines, under the Indian ownership, did not EVER look busy. It wasn’t open seven days a week, and pretty much shut down in January. The sad thing about the Des Plaines/Niles area is that there is no second run theaters close by. With the economy the way it is now, obviously a two or three dollar theater would do good business.
The current owner of the Des Plaines, according to a March 12, 2007 article, is now open to the idea of special movie presentations etc. at the theater. The Des Plaines Theater Preservation group claimed to have wanted to do more film showings but ownership decided to stop the ‘sharing of the wealth’ after the group (and others) assisted in refurbishing the theater several years ago. From what I’ve seen lately, the exterior (both upstairs and downstairs) have seen better days. When I see the overall condition of the exterior I automatically get flashbacks to the way the Patio looks on Irving Park and Austin nowadays. I certainly don’t want to see the Des Plaines fall apart again. It’s been that way before, and honestly, hasn’t been well taken care of in years. One only needs to look at the Portage Theater and the successes it’s having right now to say ‘this could be done with the Des Plaines."
Let’s hope so. Let’s hope that FINALLY someone can get an agreement and do something with the theater again. Interestingly enough, “High School Musical 2” didn’t do too bad, attendance-wise, during Des Plaines' New Years festivities.
Keep your fingers crossed.
I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but it looks like the Des Plaines Theater is shut down. Now, I might be wrong, but they’ve been advertising the same film (a Hindi film) since early January. Granted, the theater is only open on weekend evenings, but in driving in the area during those times it seems to be closed.
Does anyone have any information regarding the status of the theater?
If the Indian owners don’t want to keep the place open (not enough attendance to keep the lights on perhaps?) why don’t they sublet the theater back to individuals who can bring some income to the place? I realize it might not happen, but one can always hope.
I have been to the reopened Portage several times since 2006, and I’m happy there’s still a theater in my father’s old neighborhood (he lived off Belle Plaine around the corner from the theater) that’s functional, and is becoming more successful the longer it’s open. There needs to be more work done by the Six Corners Association to see what can be done about the run-down buildings on the east side of Milwaukee Avenue, where the department stores and the old Deluxe Record Store used to be (where the costume shop is now).
Only criticism I have – can they PLEASE get rid of that hot orange paint in the concession area? :)
It’s heartbreaking to see the condition of the Patio down at Austin/Irving Park Road though. I remember back in the late 1980s after a recent rehab how good it looked.
Also, the Des Plaines city council turned down a request for the city to possibly buy the building from the current ownership, which is sad givin their desire to continue to build more high-rise condo buildings. With the closing (again) of the Sugar Bowl restaurant, and Sims Bowl across the train tracks for sale, it seems there will be no change for the theater itself. And some historical landmarks of the downtown area are slowly fading away.
New Years Eve saw the theater rented by AM1300 (Radio Disney) for a screening of High School Musical 2 as part of the city’s new years festivities. There are no other plans for any other screenings at the theater at this time. Sad isn’t it?
Eric
Here is a small update regarding the Des Plaines Theater ~
The Des Plaines Theater Preservation Society held a fundraiser at the Pickwick Theater, featuring memorabilia and a program of silent comedies. They have nothing planned so far for any future fundraisers (according to the lack of information on their website), and the Pickwick attracted a modest (if not sold-out) crowd. Unfortunately they do not update their site much.
The Indian ownership still runs Hindi and Bollywood films, tho not on a seven-day basis.