Orpheum Theater (Galesburg)
In 1915, owner William J. Olson signed a contract with Harvey A. Craig to lease the Orpheum and provide its management, upon the completion of the theatre.
[4] The Rapps believed that “showplaces should have all the trappings of the rich, but be accessible to all.”[5] Early in 1915, Craig and Olson took sub-bids for work on the Orpheum.
[7] The design of the Orpheum was a blend of “Italian Renaissance and Second Empire Style of the 19th Century France with flourishes of classical, baroque, and art nouveau.”[5] The lobby boasted a crystal chandelier and French-mirror windows.
The theatre was considered modern in its acoustics, stage construction, ventilation system, and dressing rooms equipped with running water.
Project manager Henry Duvall took sick, Mandel Brothers had to touch-up the decoration, the insurance inspector was delayed in publishing a rate, a contractor was postponed in laying cement, no temporary heat was available for the theatre, and a hundred chairs from the American Seating Company were damaged in transport.
The first program consisted of five vaudeville acts, two reels of motion pictures, preceded by introductory speeches by William J. Olson and Illinois Supreme Court Justice C.C.
In 1940, the theatre hosted the premiere of “Those Were the Days (at Good Old Siwash),” a film based on a series of popular short stories by George Helgesen Fitch.
The film was largely shot on location in Galesburg, and featured some three hundred Knox students as extras along with William Holden, Ezra Stone, and Judy Barrett.
In August 1983, the Knox County Board voted to form a Civic Center Committee to raise funds for the restoration and remodeling of the theatre.
The Committee made efforts to raise money for the renovation locally, then applied to the state of Illinois in July 1984, for a $2 million grant from the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA).
[18] The fire, a decline in statewide betting, and a tax break given to race track owners by Illinois Legislature, left the DCCA with insufficient security and forced it to pay higher interest on bonds sold before 1985.
[19] At one point the Authority considered ligation to force the state to pay interest, but attorneys decided that a court battle could take years and would further delay the grant.
Because of these delays, the Committee faced new problems: the boiler went out, a pipe in the theatre burst, its funds dwindled to $3,000, and the cost of construction increased five percent.
Rolland Killian, the project architect, had originally expected to start work on the theatre seventeen months earlier.
[20] As the project got underway a dispute arose between the Orpheum Theatre Management Committee and the Knox County Civic Center (KCCC).
Another difficulty was the location of the concession area on the mezzanine level, inaccessible to handicapped and arguably in violation of the Environmental Barriers Act of September 1985.
[22] A state review decided the Environmental Barriers Act did, in fact, apply to the theatre: the Critic's Square must be handicapped accessible, thru an elevator or a lift.
[24] The Committee selected the Henry Mancini Orchestra as the opening night performance along with other events including the showing of Around the World in 80 Days and a cocktail party.
Ticket sales were down, repairs were required, the boiler needed to be replaced, State funds for the theatre were slashed, and the city's Hotel and Motel tax was producing less revenue.
