Struggling La Grange Theatre Turns To Chain

LA GRANGE, IL — The La Grange Theatre, which has been closed throughout the pandemic, wants an Illinois-based theater chain to run the local operation, which its owners believe could save it.

Downers Grove-based Classic Cinemas would invest $1 million in the theater, 80 S. La Grange Road, to bring it up to current standards for first-run theaters, according to village of La Grange documents.

The plan is to change the existing five-auditorium theater to four auditoriums and install heated, reclining seating. The owners, Dan Chopp and John Rot, also want the village to grant the theater a liquor license.

Through incentives in 2009, the village helped the theater owners with a previous renovation. The owners are expected to present their plan to the Village Board at the board's meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Village Hall.

In a letter to the village, the owners said it was imperative for the theater to get first-run movies. With streaming options, they said, the market for "sub-run" movies no longer exists. And they said theaters have a greater need to include additional auditoriums, providing a greater variety of movies to compete with growing at-home digital consumption.

Classic Cinemas runs 14 theaters in Illinois and one in Wisconsin. Its theaters include Elmhurst's York Theatre and North Riverside Luxury 6.

As part of its requests to the village, the owners want La Grange to release it from a facade preservation agreement from 2009 and the resulting lien.

"The model for this original plan was always as a breakeven operation," the owners said in the letter. "The historical results that have been shared with the Village yearly during our annual Village Committee Meeting show this to be true at best."

They said the lien is a large liability on the property. At the same time, they said, the partnership with Classic Cinemas is a proposition with "a large risk with little reward" for both Classic and the building ownership.

The theater, the owners said, needs a strong operator to keep it in town. With its record, Classic Cinemas is the answer, they said.

"Simply, if they can't make it work as a movie theatre, then it would mean there is no longer a market for an independent movie theatre," the owners said.

Historical ticket sales at La Grange Theatre:

* Last day open was March 16, 2020.

Source: Owners of La Grange Theatre