A renovation of the Des Plaines Theatre for live performances could cost $4 million to $6 million, a consultant told city officials and 60 residents Monday night.
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Ray Shepardson, director of theatrical planning for GSI Architects in Cleveland, assessed the prospects for the theater, 1476 Miner St., built in the late 1920s as a vaudeville hall.
“The question isn’t really if you can afford it, it’s can you afford not to, because not many towns are as fortunate to have a theater like this downtown,” Shepardson said.
Shepardson’s firm has revamped movie theaters including the Chicago Theatre and Philadelphia’s Fox Theatre.
Any plans for the Des Plaines theater were “very preliminary,” said Mayor Tony Arredia. Facing budget cuts and hiring freezes, Arredia made no promises the city would finance the project.
The City Council needs to look at the theater’s future as other developments transform downtown, he said.
Members of the Pang family of Buffalo Grove, owners of the theater, did not attend the meeting. The theater is rented to Dhitu Bhagwaker, who shows Indian movies that draw as many as 500 people, Bhagwaker said.
“It’s an old building that at the moment is pretty much falling apart,” said Donna Catlett, president of the Des Plaines Arts Council.
More public input will be sought on the theater’s future, Catlett said. A feasibility study of renovations and programming would cost about $45,000, she said.