So why couldn’t the historic DuPage Theatre and Shoppes be saved? 

For those of you in other states and towns attempting to save your old theatre, we offer these contributing factors. 

This list is not all inclusive, but hopefully you will consider the following in your situation. 
 
1) The top end of Lombard’s local government is comprised of village President William J. Mueller and six district trustees.  At the time of the theatre’s demise, the following trustees were in office.  District one ‑ Greg Gron,  district two ‑ Dick Tross,  district three ‑ Jack O’Brien,  district four (theatre) ‑  Steven Sebby,  district five ‑ Ken Florey, and district six ‑ Rick Soderstrom.   
 
The theatre stood in the old downtown area, in district four.  Trustee Sebby should have welcomed  the opportunity to spearhead the restoration drive.  A historic restored theatre complex would have revitalized the downtown area. Just look at the restored theatres on our website.  You will find bigger and smaller towns that chose to invest and restore their old theatre.  In most cases, their old theatre was not as ornate as the DuPage. But that didn’t matter.  These towns knew that after restoration their theatre would serve as a hub for local business and tourism.  

Sadly district four trustee Steven Sebby never favored any restoration plan that I know of. No matter how good the plan was or how many times it was changed per village request, he still was not happy.  Phone calls and letters were ignored or answered with a negative argument. Could it be that his alleged  connections to a demolition company played a part of his negative bias?   Rumors abounded that certain trustees were talking to local residents advising them that a restored Theatre and Arts Center would cause a great increase in traffic congestion and crime.  This doesn’t appear to be so in other cities and parking provisions were in the plans.

On June 2, 2008, the trustees voted on a measure to demolish the historic DuPage Theatre and Shoppes.  Voting for demolition were Trustees Tross (district two), O’Brian (district three), Sebby (district four), Soderstrom (district six).   Those voting to preserve this historic treasure were Trustees Gron (district one) and Florey (district five).    Sincere thanks to those who had the vision and courage to vote and work for preservation! 
 
By now the village could be reaping the tax rewards from what the restored theatre / arts center and shoppes would bring in.  But there was no vision of greatness there. Lombard’s downtown remains a mediocre town with an assortment of closed businesses.  Lombard - you lost your chance!

2) The Big Idea Company generously gave the theatre and land to the village of Lombard instead of an established restoration oriented organization.  Many of us believe  that village officials have other uses for this land in mind for the future. Presently this corner remains vacant.  Such a waste.

 3) Lombard’s present busier area is the Yorktown Shopping Center, about three miles South of the old downtown.  This seems to be the villages main focus.  During the DuPage Theatres final years, Lombard was planning and building the Westin Lombard Hotel and Convention Center on the East side of the Yorktown area.  This was a $200 million, 20ish floor monster that seemed to get pushed through with minimal effort.  Compared to the $12 million or so it would have cost to completely restore the Dupage Theatre and Shoppes, this convention center met very little opposition, had relatively few public meetings, and had no public voting on the issue as I recall.  Proposed plans for the DuPage were met with years of mostly petty issues. It was too tall, to close to the sidewalk, not enough parking, etc.  Yet walk a block or two and you will find buildings taller and many right up to the sidewalk with no setback!  President Mueller wanted this convention facility.  Although he did show support for the DuPage Theatre preservation at times, many of us  believe that stronger leadership on this issue would have resulted in a positive outcome for the theatre. 
 
 4) A few words must also be said about the Lombard Historical Society (LHS).  Yes, Lombard has a historical society dedicated to preserving what is left of Lombard’s past.  They presently maintain and give tours of the Victorian Cottage and the Sheldon Peck Homestead, which pale in comparison to the magnificance of the now demolished DuPage Theatre..  Yet they remained mostly silent on the issue of preserving and restoring the DuPage Theatre and Shoppes and did not openly support it.  Why?  At least several theories exist and here are the ones I believe to be most valid.  By now it was clear that Lombard did not want the theatre restored. Certain people within the LHS  opposed restoration in fear that the village would reduce their funding. Maybe they supported other venues at that location.  At one time it was rumored that the public library wanted to build on that land. This now is supposedly a dead issue.  Whatever the reason, the LHS show of non-support just made it more difficult for the Friends of the DuPage Theatre to pursue restoration plans.  Interestingly, the Victorian Cottage contains an old usher’s cap, believed to be from the early days of the DuPage Theatre. However they would not give me permission to show it on this web site.

5) While some Lombard businesses supported the FODT efforts to restore the old theatre into a movie/performing arts/shoppes/ condo complex, other local businesses and organizations (such as the Lombard Town Center) were neutral or opposed to such a  restoration project.  Their support would have been welcomed.  But due to apathy, personal agenda, politics, anti-theatre rumors, or whatever reason, they offered no support.

Lombard, DuPage County, Illinois is an expensive area in which to live.  The irreplaceable loss of the DuPage Theatre is just one more reason not to live here...

“... By a government that had no pride ...”  The Pretenders. (Thank You!)