Newsflash: City Also Prefers A Restored Theatre

As we know, the City of Chicago is the current owner of the Ramova. We have obtained the original Request For Proposals (RFP) posted in 2002 by the City's Department of Planning and Development (DPD). This is the document where the City asks for re-development plans from private developers for the Ramova Theatre building.

This document originally appeared at the City Of Chicago Website but has long since been removed. We recovered the document this afternoon and put it up for everyone to read here.

In this 2002 call to private developers, the DPD plainly states:

The City prefers proposals that would rehabilitate the building's interior and Halsted Street facade for performing arts, cultural, or cinema-related uses. Proposals must demonstrate that the theater would be managed by an experienced operator and that programing would be high-quality and reflective of the character of the surrounding community.

So this confirms that in August 2002 the DPD believed the Ramova could be restored to its former status as a operating movie theatre! We couldn't agree more - even after seeing the water damage to the interior (damage that was certainly in place when DPD wrote this RFP!)

Rob