Will the Cascade Drive-in theater reopen? Stay tuned

While the McHenry Outdoor Theater prepares to open its new season with a little picture from the summer of 1975, the marquee at another beloved drive-in is still blank.

Moviegoers will cruise into the McHenry "ozoner" for a double-feature of "Jaws" and "Twister" on April 30.

About 36 miles away, there's no such coming attraction at what had been the only other drive-in around.

Despite a revival effort launched last fall, the Cascade Drive-in theater in West Chicago looks much like it did when the gates closed and the big screen went dark in 2019.

Then in September 2020, the longtime proprietor of the Cascade and the owner of the 28-acre property announced they were working to reopen the shuttered theater.

But West Chicago officials are now in a holding pattern waiting to see plans for sewer improvements for the theater's reopening. The theater also hasn't posted an update on its Facebook page since October.

"We really haven't heard much recently from them," Community Development Director Tom Dabareiner said Tuesday.

Not much has changed since the start of the year, Dabareiner said. At that time, the city received a letter from an attorney for the property owner who was prepared to "invest hundreds of thousands of dollars" to connect to West Chicago's sanitary sewer mains.

The letter spelled out the proposed utility improvements, including the construction of a lift station to pump waste into West Chicago's sanitary sewer system.

Russ Whitaker, an attorney who has represented the property owner, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

For 30 years, Jeff Kohlberg operated the Cascade until the property's previous owner declined to renew the lease in late 2018. Kohlberg has previously said he hopes to reopen the theater this year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its 1961 opening.