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Refurbished Antioch Theatre to reopen Friday

Two screens will be ready for moviegoers on Friday

The Antioch Theatre, a mainstay of the village's traditional downtown for 90 years, is reopening Friday after a $750,000 makeover.

Whether the investment — which is being assisted by corporate and individual donations as well as a village-authorized, per-ticket fee — will succeed is hard to know. But the potential monetary return isn't the only motivation for Tim Downey, who bought the old building last summer.

Besides the main theater, which has 160 floor seats and 56 balcony seats, a connected retail space has been converted to an intimate, 36-seat movie venue. The official opening-day showings, beginning at 1 p.m., are “Kingsman: The Secret Service” in the main theater and “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” in the smaller venue.

The wraps were removed Tuesday from the exterior, giving passers-by a glimpse of the theater's facade for the first time in months. As Downey spoke to a visitor, the driver of an SUV passing on Lake Street, as if on cue, shouted a compliment regarding the revived look.

“We've got five kids — we'll definitely be back,” Michael Milone told Downey.

Such sentiment has sustained Downey through what has become a challenging project.

“I love it. I get overwhelmed with emotion how much this means to the community,” said Downey, who has owned and operated the Something Sweet store nearby for about seven years. “The heart and the emotion and the commitment the community has to this theater is overwhelming.”

Downey is a self-described “real estate guy” who, for most of his career, was hired by “small towns like this” to help revitalize their downtowns. He said he knew the theater was in trouble and spent a year determining how to make a revamp economically viable. Deferred maintenance and outdated technology contributed to its closing last May.

It is the first project of its type for Downey, who has $300,000 invested in it.

“I hope I'm right,” he said.

Along with Downey's investment, a public campaign raised money for the digital equipment that will allow for first-run movies and 3-D. Corporate sponsors pledged $150,000, and sales of engraved sidewalk stars added to the total.

Though the building always has been a simple structure rather than one of the grand old moviehouses found elsewhere, Antioch, too, has a vested interest in seeing the project succeed. Village officials provided Downey with a low-interest loan of $200,000 to be repaid through a 75-cent tax on each ticket.

“A big part of the history of Antioch is in that theater,” said Mayor Lawrence Hanson, a lifelong resident and downtown business owner. “Obviously, it should be a great asset for the downtown and hopefully we can feed off that.”

The structure at 378 Lake St. was built in 1919 as the Majestic Theatre, a live performance house. It was converted and renamed the Antioch Theatre in 1924.

“Everybody wants to know when we're opening, every detail they can,” said Matt Jelinski, 16, who has lived in town all his life and saw movies at the theater as a kid. He also worked at the old place as a concessionaire and has been hired at the new one.

“It's a lot different and a lot better. Every single corner I turn, I keep smiling,” the high school sophomore said.

The extensive renovation has included the replacement of utilities and installation of a sprinkler system and heated sidewalk. The unforeseen need for a new structural steel beam added a month to the project.

With the exception of six wall sconces and the stage, most of the interior has been reworked or replaced.

“I promised the community I would keep the balcony historic, but the seats were in such bad shape, I couldn't give them away,” Downey said. By chance, he secured 1920s-era replacement seats from the Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest.

A dry run included a showing Tuesday of “Gone Girl” in the small theater as part of a book-to-film program of the Antioch Public Library District, according to Jane Connors-Geddes, adult program coordinator.

“It's fun to have (the theater) back,” she said.

Hanson said the theater can stand on its own as an attraction but hopes it can be a steppingstone for other improvements.

“I'm just happy the community rallied behind the project. Everybody else would have given up,” he said of Downey. “He persevered.”

@dhmickzawislak

Antioch Theatre renovation on track

  Antioch Theatre owner Tim Downey prepares for the official reopening of the theater on Friday. The venue closed in May for a $750,000 renovation that added digital equipment, new seating and a smaller boutique theater. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  The refurbished Antioch Theatre will open Friday. The building in downtown Antioch opened in 1919 as a live performance venue and was converted to a theater in 1924. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
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