2 June 2006
After rejecting a redevelopment proposal last month, the Lombard Village Board voted to authorize demolition of the historic DuPage Theater in downtown Lombard. However, trustees also voted to reconsider the redevelopment proposal, raising hopes that elements of the theater may yet be preserved. Before demolition of the theater can begin, the Illinois Historic Preservation Society must review the decision to ensure the theater's razing does not violate any federal or state preservation laws. The theater has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987.
25 May 2006
The Lombard Village Board voted to reject a $40-million condominium development proposal by RSC & Associates that would have preserved some architectural elements of the historic DuPage Theater at Main Street and Parkside Avenue. The deal hinged on the extension of an existing tax increment financing district to include the redevelopment property. Designed by R. G. Wolff, an associate with the renowned theater architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp, the DuPage Theater was built in 1928 and featured an auditorium and atmospheric ceiling meant to give patrons the sense of sitting in an outdoor Spanish garden under a starlit, nighttime sky.
27 April 2006
Federated Department Stores Inc., the new owner of Marshall Field and Company, unveiled plans to remodel and partly refurbish the historic flagship store on State Street in the Loop. The four-year project will start with a cleaning of building's exterior up to the third floor.
6 March 2006
Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. announced the acquisition of Carson Pirie Scott through the company's purchase of Saks Incorporated's Northern Department Store Group for approximately $1.05 billion. (Read the Bon-Ton Stores press release.)
1 March 2006
The Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois named the historic Pickford Theater Building at 35th Street and Michigan Avenue to its 2006 list of the state's Most Endangered Historic Places. Built in 1912, the movie theater and adjacent retail space is one of Chicago's oldest surviving African-American performance venues. During the early twentieth century, the Pickford was one of a handful of theaters on Chicago's South Side that catered specifically to the city's growing African-American population. Several notable black musicians performed in the theater's house orchestra and films by and about black Americans received top billing. The building is currently vacant and owned by the city of Chicago. (See the Preservation Council's summary.)
30 January 2006 Crain's Chicago Business reported that strong 2005 holiday sales may prompt Federated Department Stores executives to retain the Marshall Field and Company name in some form after the store becomes a Macy's in late 2006. "Possibilities range from from Field’s-branded goods to an in-store Field’s shop or keeping the Field’s name attached to the State Street flagship," the report stated. "Any continuing use of the Field’s name seems most likely at State Street. Sales there rose more than 3% during the holidays, outpacing the more than 2% gain at Field’s 61-store chain as a whole, people familiar with the figures say, as sentimental shoppers flocked to take in the State Street store’s last holiday as Marshall Field’s." Many Chicagoans have vowed to protest the controversial name change by boycotting the store and owners of leased shops inside the Field's State Street store have, according to Crain's also expressed concerns about loss of business due to the name change.
