DuPage Theatre and DuPage Shoppes

DuPage Theatre and DuPage Shoppes
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The DuPage Theatre and Shoppes in the late 1970’s
Location	101-109 S. Main St. Lombard, DuPage County, Illinois, U.S.
Coordinates	41°53′9″N 88°1′4″W
Built	1928 (1928)
Architect	R. G. Wolff
Demolished	2007
NRHP reference No.	87002047
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 20, 1987
Removed from NRHP	January 2, 2020

The DuPage Theatre and DuPage Shoppes, nicknamed "The Duper", was an historic movie theater in Lombard, Illinois.

History

The 800-capacity theater was designed by R. G. Wolff, who formerly worked for Rapp and Rapp. Wolff was a consultant for the Chicago Theatre and was responsible for the design of several others (including the Patio Theater on the northwest side of Chicago). The theater was named after the county to bring out-of-town customers to the shows. Built-in 1927, The DuPage was a Spanish patio-style theater (like the Uptown) that also incorporated commercial and residential aspects in its buildings. The theater was originally a single screen, but it has been divided into two screens that play $1 movies in recent years. As a small town, the six shops incorporated into the theater comprised a large portion of the village's commerce at the time. The shops and theater also benefited from their proximity to the Chicago and North Western Railway.

The DuPage Theatre and DuPage Shoppes were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. In 1990, Paul Anderson and Fatal Beauty Studios (a local recording studio) attempted to open the theatre as a concert hall, but the Village Board turned them down. In the interim, the theatre lay vacant until 2000, when Big Idea Productions, Inc., a producer of children's videos, purchased the property. The company planned to renovate the theater and use the other space for its corporate headquarters. After determining that the site would need to be more significant for their plans, they pulled out and returned the theater to village ownership. Lombard appointed several committees to oversee the feasibility of rehabilitating the theater. Their efforts were ultimately fruitless, and in May 2007, the DuPage Theatre and DuPage Shoppes were demolished. They were removed from the National Register in 2020. The land where the building stood remained vacant until 2021, when ground was broken for new luxury apartments.

References

• "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: DuPage Theatre and DuPage Shoppes" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2016.