In 1930 32 Naperville citizens contributed $500 each during the Great Depression to purchase land to honor the city’s centennial year in 1931. In 1981 Naperville businesspeople led by Jim Moser, public officials led by Mayor Chet Rybicki and thousand of citizens contributed $588,000 with businesses and citizens donating materials and countless hours of bricklaying labor. The history of the Naperville Riverwalk is the history of changing what the former mayor described as a “terrible-looking” piece of land, containing a gas station and oil tanks, into a beautiful entertainment and economic development success story. It is an example of how citizens can band together with government and business to improve their city, their economy and their quality of life.
Some communities understand the importance of smart development in attracting residents, providing jobs, increasing tax revenue and improving the quality of life. Orland Park recently decided to construct an outdoor theater seating 1,000 that they’re describing as a “Ravinia South,” located in a residential area near their Metra Station. The train station will have over 1,300 parking spots. The Naperville Sun quotes Kevin McNulty, president of the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce, saying of the Orland Park project,
“Anytime you can enrich the quality of life in the community with cultural activities, it’s always good….It shows a maturing of a marketplace. It’s a natural pattern. The last piece. The cherry on top of economic development.”
Lombard is not Naperville. Lombard is not Orland Park. Lombard has its own unique history to be proud of - and its own cultural and economic strengths. One of its historic, cultural and economic strengths is the DuPage Theatre, located on Main Street, in the heart of downtown Lombard, near the Metra Station. A restored DuPage Theatre could set the stage for an economic revitalization of the downtown, helping make Lombard a destination for culture and entertainment. Instead the village trustees want to bring down the curtain on the theater and reduce to rubble a major part of their downtown. They publicly offer no alternative to the rubble, no vision of a greater Lombard - or even a better one. They would part with their history, a building donated to the village with the hope that it would be restored to its former greatness, and exchange it for nothing.
This is a time for Lombard citizens to take stock of their town, to honor, and celebrate, the place they live. In Naperville it started with 32 residents giving $500 each during the Great Depression and has resulted in millions of dollars that most would argue have been well-spent. In Orland Park the village plans to take an active financial role at least in the initial stages of its outdoor theater - the planning is still in the works. In Lombard it could be said that in 2000 the gift of the DuPage Theatre from Big Idea Productions, Inc. spawned a “bigger idea,” the revitalization of downtown Lombard featuring the restoration of the historic theater on Main Street as its anchor. That is what could be said. It is up to Lombard whether it will be said. Developing a big idea is what it takes.
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