Madison Theatre on the Peoria.com Forums

Question from an email... anyone know?

"I have a question about the Madison theater I hope you can answer. Why did the theater close? I heard two different stories. One was that the it wasn't up to code and the fire department shut it down. The other is that during an ICP concert the theater was damaged and they closed to make repairs, and never reopened. Any truth to the second one?"

I cant remember when it closed. I know it has been closed long enough that it needs to be reopened. It is a tragic shame that Peoria does not have any large downtown movie theaters, like other cities, that are restored.

I dont know that there was a fire code violation or anything as much as the economic situation just got worse.

Just the other day I had a conversation with someone that it should be restored and reopened. I was told that it should be demolished as Peoria needed space for retail development!

ICP = Insane Clown Posse ....

Everything I have read says it was closed due to decaying conditions.

Kind of funny that you brought this up this morning. I am sitting here in my office on the 10th floor of the Becker Building watching a crew take down the broken awnings. There is a poll going here at the office as to what the ultimate goal will be - leave them down or replace/recover then and return them to the building. Personally I am leaning to the replace them side. Anyone know for sure what the plan is?

It should be rehabbed and put back into action as a performance center.

It should, but it won't. It's a designated historical landmark, which means only somebody who wants to throw away a lot of money can afford to rehab it back to its glory days.

The answer to the question though:

http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/x2109420212/Does

"The Madison Theater was shut down in 2003 amid concerns by the city that it was a fire code problem. Before the closure, Goldberg said the shows his company produced there were profitable."

Without looking it up, if I recall a month or so ago the owner was quoted in the paper that he wanted to tear it down.

^ Yeah, the owners want to tear it down. There was a short editorial in PJS over Memorial Day weekend that stated as much.

I went in there after it closed and met with Al Z. It needs millions and millions of dollars for proper restoration. Peoria isn't a city where that will happen. Although I am surprised that the architect's other 2 theaters, in Joliet and Rockford, have been restored. I wonder where they got the funding. Peoria doesn't have any big donors which is really what it needs to happen.

I doubt the Madison will ever re-open. At least I saw some good shows there while it was open.

All you need to know about the restoration of the Rialto Theater in Joliet.
http://www.rialtosquare.com/return_to_elegance.asp

I am sure somewhere in there were tax breaks which we just went through with the Pere Marquette Hotel. In addition, Joliet had some visionaries that are not in abundance in Peoria enough to get the job done. How long did it take to get the Pere Marquette Hotel project going? And that was with a somehwat viable structure still open.
So long as Peoria is full of elected people and citizens that have their minds nailed shut to anything progressive, it will contin ue to lag behind cities that have visionaries and a progressive mindset.

The Rialto took $6 million dollars to renovate. That's probably a fair ballpark for The Madison. There's going to have to be a very sizable private contribution before the city, state, or feds will get involved. So, Mr. Maloof, if you're reading this, and you need a tax break next year, I have a great idea...

6 million dollars sounds a bit on the cheap side. I believe the Rialto was in better shape at the start than perhaps the Madison is now.

One major ace card in all this is the new Marriott across the street. It is a proven fact that when Marriott opens a hotel in an ecomonically depressed area, economic revitalization has followed. So being that the Madison is across the street from the hotel, lets hope that Marriott brings pressure to get the Madison restored.

I don't know if ICP was the final straw or not. I know that last concert I went to there was Kenny Wayne Shepherd. You stuck to the carpeting because (I'm guessing) so much beer was spilled on it and it was never cleaned, the bathrooms smelled so bad you about puked your beer up and it just seemed unkept/run down like the owners didn't care and were just there to make a buck.

^ The owners don't care about the facility. And it didn't make sense for a renter (Goldberg) to invest money in the facility he didn't own.

The bathrooms and electrical are the biggest issues at the venue.

This would NEVER happen here, but the Missouri Theater in St. Joseph is city owned and was rehabbed using a five year half cent tax.

http://www.stjoemo.info/parks/theater.cfm

The Madison interior...

Thank you so much for these beautiful pictures. I agree it will never happen in Peoria.

One of the many sad parts of this story is that cities smaller than Peoria, like Joliet, St. Joseph etc. have these s magnificently restored theaters.