Editorial: Working together to save a Des Plaines icon

Can another iconic suburban theater be saved from the wrecking ball? We hope so. And we're glad Des Plaines is going to try.

The city and Rivers Casino have formally inked a deal to buy and renovate the theater, which opened as a movie and vaudeville house in 1925. Designed by local architect Williams Betts, it had an Art Deco exterior. Inside, there was a Spanish Moorish style foyer, which opened into a Spanish Renaissance-style auditorium that seated more than 1,000.

It doesn't look much like that anymore, of course, except for the beautiful terra cotta that still adorns the facade.

Renovating the theater isn't just about saving a historic artifact. The work is too expensive to be motivated by sentiment alone. Suburban downtowns don't thrive by turning their most highly visible buildings into museum pieces, no matter how nostalgic they make us feel.

But when sentiment and commerce work hand in hand, good things can happen. And what encourages us about this project is that it appears to be motivated by equal parts of both.

The city is determined to save what was once a beautiful old building, one that so many people visited and have memories of.

And, as Rivers Casino General Manager Corey Wise said in a statement, "A renewed theater will generate activity and pride in the downtown business district, leading to additional business growth."

That the casino is involved at all says that people whose business is business think this project has a chance.

The casino will contribute half of the cost of buying the building, plus other expenses related to the acquisition, up to $1 million. The casino also will contribute half the costs (up to $1 million) to renovate the theater, plus money for education programming.

One senses this is the last chance for the Des Plaines Theatre. It can't sit derelict at Miner and Lee streets forever. So, let's see what Des Plaines can do.

The Marx Brothers brought their vaudeville act to Des Plaines in the 1920s. Later generations saw first runs of "Mary Poppins" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" there.

During both eras, downtown Des Plaines and other suburban downtowns were ready-made centers of commerce for their own residents, with places to shop and eat, all within walking distance of the theater.

Maybe it can't be exactly like that again. But maybe it can be something new and exciting. You'll never know unless you try.