Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet sets reopening date

The Rialto Square Theatre plans to reopen Oct. 22 after a prolonged closure connected to an asbestos removal project.

Management on Wednesday morning announced the reopening date for the theater in downtown Joliet.

“This announcement follows weeks of close collaboration with environmental experts and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to ensure the safe reopening of the Rialto,” Rialto management said in a news release.

The IEPA cited the Rialto and contractors for violations after inspectors on July 24 found three unsealed bags of asbestos-containing material in the basement. A contractor was removing asbestos in the area in preparation for a future replacement of the theater’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

The Rialto’s reopening announcement comes one day after the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 announced that it was rescheduling its Hall of Fame induction ceremony scheduled to be at the Rialto on Oct. 20.

The induction ceremony was the third show rescheduled because of the ongoing asbestos issue.

Two more shows are being rescheduled and three others are being canceled, Rialto management said Wednesday.

However, the theater appears to have some certainty that the asbestos issues will be resolved by Oct. 22.

“We’re as confident as we can be at this point,” Rialto Executive Director Wade Welsh said.

Welsh said the Rialto was able to set a reopening date after getting IEPA approval of the cleanup plan Friday. State regulators had rejected three previous plans submitted by the Rialto.

A Vitamin String Quartet concert is scheduled for Oct. 22. “Wheel of Fortune Live!” has been rescheduled from its original Oct. 10 date and now is slated for Nov. 4.

One other show rescheduled from the October calendar is “Matt Fraser,” which was slated for Oct. 15 but has been moved to Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.

A new date has not been set for the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 induction ceremony, but the museum said it plans to move the event to the spring.

The Rialto also announced the cancellation of three October shows: “Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen,” which was scheduled for Oct. 9; ”Cold Case Live,” which was slated for Oct. 11; and “Masters of Illusion,” which was expected to be Oct. 13.

Tickets bought for shows that already have been rescheduled will be honored on the new dates of the shows, according the a news release from the theater Wednesday.

Welsh said the Rialto is seeing good ticket sales as it continues to announce future shows while the theater has been closed.

“All the shows that we’ve announced, the promoters are very happy with the ticket sales,” he said.

The Rialto has emphasized in statements issued during the closure that it is working with the IEPA on the cleanup and that tests have not shown hazardous levels of asbestos.

It did so again with the statement issued Wednesday.

“Since being notified of the asbestos violations, the Rialto has taken numerous safety steps, including testing the air in the theater and other areas of the building,” according to the release. “The majority of those tests detected no asbestos. Only two tests each detected one strand of asbestos.”

According to the release, Illinois regulations “set clearance testing for public schools to be less than 70 strands. In other words, if there had been 69 times the number of strands found, the tests would have shown the air was safe for public schools.”

The Rialto with remediation experts “developed a comprehensive cleaning plan that meets the highest standards set by the IEPA,” according to the release. “This plan is designed to ensure the utmost safety for all occupants while addressing any concerns from the community.”

Requirements already have been met for reopening areas of the Rialto building occupied by the University of St. Francis, Midland States Bank, the Rialto Square ticket office and ticket lobby, and Rialto administrative offices.

Those offices began opening Tuesday with IEPA approval after the areas were both cleaned and tested for asbestos, Rialto attorney James Murphy said. He noted that the doorways connecting those offices to the theater section of the building have been sealed to protect against possible asbestos migration as the theater area is cleaned.

The outside offices had remained open during the original asbestos removal project, which was scheduled for July and August and had required closing the theater itself for those two months. The adjacent offices separate from the theater operate on a separate ventilation system, but they were closed after the violations were detected because of IEPA concerns that asbestos could have migrated through doorways that connect those areas to the theater section of the building.