Closed for renovation for the last two years, the new Esquire comes back to life under the management of M&R-Loews Theaters, the Skokie-based chain that operates the Old Orchard, Fine Arts, Webster Place and several other area theaters.
The $4 million conversion, which will include 15,000 square feet of retail space on the building`s first and second floors, was financed by real estate developers David Ruttenberg of Lakewest Inc. and Michael Supera of Supera Property Management Co.
The re-opening of the Esquire brings the total number of first-run screens along the Northern Michigan Avenue corridor to a plentiful 23. These include the McClurg Court, Chestnut Station, Water Tower and 900 N. Michigan complexes.
The new Esquire will open with only three films on its six screens-”
Stella,” ”Mack the Knife” and ”My Left Foot”-and it will be M&R`s policy to play popular films on more than one screen as long as the demand exists, making hourly showtimes possible.
Although ”My Left Foot,” the acclaimed British feature starring Daniel Day-Lewis as handicapped artist Christy Brown, is the sort of ”specialized” product that generally plays M&R`s Fine Arts Theater in the South Loop, the Esquire will more typically feature regular commercial releases on wide breaks. ”The Esquire is not intended as a replacement for the Fine Arts,”
says M&R spokesman Tom Brueggemann, ”but it will on occasion be a supplement.”
Regular admission to the new Esquire will be $6.50 for adults and $3.50 for children, with a $3.50 bargain price in effect weekdays until 6 p.m. and weekends and holidays until the first show begins.