Oh my!: Historic Dixon Theatre debuts new era of movie viewing

DIXON – What do you create when lions and tigers and bears, a little girl who gets trapped in her TV and two metal bands get together?

The answer: The Dixon Frights & Sounds Experience, a first-time event set for Saturday, Oct. 21, in The Dixon: Historic Theatre at 114 S. Galena Ave. The lineup will feature a showing of the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz” at 3 p.m., “Poltergeist” on the big screen at 7 p.m. and two live music acts, Etched In Embers and Alborn, to follow.

It’s the first time in almost 40 years that a movie has been shown in the theater, also known as The Dixon, which is undergoing a restorative transformation under the leadership of The Dixon Theatre Group as it works to revitalize the 101-year-old icon’s place in the community.

“This will be our first self-produced event of this board,” Mike Venier, president of the Historic Dixon Theatre Group’s board, said of Saturday’s event lineup that will be the same day as the city’s annual Scarecrow Festival in downtown Dixon. “The Wizard of Oz” showing will cost $5 per ticket. Tickets to see “Poltergeist” are $10 each and include the two bands’ concerts. Tickets can be bought at the door or online at dixontheatre.com/.

The theater’s history

The Dixon and its historic theater is owned and operated by Historic Dixon Theatre Group. The board is appointed by Dixon’s mayor and City Council, but operates as an independent body. That group took over ownership and operation of the the Dixon Historic Theatre in 2019, but the theater’s history dates to 1920, when Leonard G. Rorer, manager of Dixon’s Family Theatre, announced he had purchased the site of The Dixon Opera House. He had purchased it “for the purpose of erecting the finest show house to be found between Chicago and Des Moines and from Rockford to LaSalle”, according to The Dixon: Historic Theatre’s website.

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Dixon Historic Theatre technical director Scott Shipp, new chairman Mike Venier and board member Jessica Dempsey are seen on stage Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. An event this weekend will bring films and live music to The Dixon. (Alex T. Paschal)

According to the website, the opera house opened in 1876 and operated until it was destroyed by fire in early 1920. On March 15, 1922, the Dixon Evening Telegraph announced the opening of The Dixon Theatre. The Dixon cost $200,000 to build and was designed in an Italian Renaissance style by local architect William J. McAlpine, who had been responsible for the Lee County Courthouse, the Old Post Office and Dixon National Bank, among other buildings. Its crowning glory was a large dome in the center of the ceiling with a sky treatment. There also is a large stage, orchestra pit and a 1924 organ.

The Rorer family owned and operated the theater for nearly 30 years. Early showbills featured several vaudeville acts, a seven-piece orchestra and frequently a motion picture. An organ accompanied the early silent films, and talking pictures arrived in 1929. Among the most famous events was the premier showing of the Ronald Reagan film “International Squadron,” according to the website.

The Dixon continued to serve as a movie house until 1984, when the final movie was shown. In October 1985, Dixon Theatre Renovation signed a lease-purchase agreement and The Dixon once again became a showcase for the performing arts. DTRI and the Lee County Civic Center Authority oversaw the building through nearly 35 years of use as a performing arts center.

The goal for the last several years has been to make the theater a cultural anchor for the region and tourist attraction for the city, bringing in additional sales tax revenue and customers for restaurants and other businesses.

As it looks toward the facility’s future, The Historic Dixon Theatre Group and its new board are planning events such as live music, community theater, movies, lectures, meetings and conferences. They also are gearing for a $1.5 million project that will be used to repair and enhance the structure’s interior and exterior, Venier said.

“It needs love inside and out,” he said.

Funding plans

In August 2022, the century-old theater won a $1.2 million federal Economic Development Administration grant for structural improvements to the facility. The grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. Funds will go toward a new roof, tuck-pointing with the exterior, windows, lighting and other improvements.

The grant required $300,000 in matching funds. The City Council and Lee County Board each agreed to give the theater $100,000. The remaining $100,000 is coming from the theater’s community fundraising campaign.

The grant only can be used for infrastructure work and cannot be put toward operational costs, Venier said.

Improvements also will include addressing water leaks in different areas, drainage on the side of the building with Peace Park, making restrooms more accessible, replacing the front doors and storefront windows, painting the auditorium and lobby, and adding seating with the goal to increase capacity to about 1,000 people. Current capacity is 920.

In April, the theater also won a $100,000 state grant to go toward production and technical expenses through the Tourism Attractions and Festivals Grant Program.

The city also has helped the theater along financially in the past few years. In April 2023, it was reported that the city had given the theater about $300,000 for events in the previous couple of years, and the expense would be $200,000 this year because of a donation and the $100,000 toward the theater’s $1.5 million project to make structural repairs.

Venier said the theater has not yet received any of the federal funding, but has six years to complete the work under the grant. Work is expected to begin in summer 2024.