Wheaton businessman hopes for Grand Theater ideas

Rick Erickson has grown to love his hometown of Wheaton. He calls it his “patriotism for Wheaton.” So at a Sept. 8 launch party to celebrate a business merger, he made an effort to bring people together to help the community.

He set up a table with books about leadership. The price for the books? A commitment to attend a “leadership huddle” to tackle some of the city's biggest issues.

First up on the agenda is a Thursday discussion about the Wheaton Grand Theater.

“Every day that goes by, it's still sitting there, falling apart while people philosophize about what to do with it,” said Erickson, a 25-year Wheaton resident.

He hopes the meeting, expected to draw between 20 and 25 people from all walks of life, can present new solutions.

However, Erickson stressed the session about the theater is just the first of what he hopes turns into a series of meetings.

With vacancies dotting the downtown business community, Erickson said he wants to bring new people into the conversation to give the area the best chance for revival.

“I am a loyal Wheaton guy,” said Erickson, who owns Bold Steps Inc., a business consulting firm along Main Street. “I won't sign on with the idea that (downtown) is dying.”

After coming up with the idea of the meetings, a chance encounter with one of those glaring examples of downtown pessimism gave him the topic of the first meeting.

The Wheaton Grand Theater has been the subject of several restoration attempts through the years, and voters in April rejected an advisory referendum that would have allocated taxpayer money to the landmark. Meanwhile, the building stands vacant.

As much as Erickson is hopeful for the theater's future, he said he remains on the fence as to what to do with it. And that, he said, is why the meetings will be important.

“I don't want to hear 100 reasons this won't work or 100 reasons why the theater is the best thing since sliced bread,” Erickson said. “But you won't know if something works until you try something. Let's imagine the possibilities and see what happens.”