Park Ridge’s iconic Pickwick Theater will roll its final credits in January after hosting moviegoers for nearly a century, the owner told Chicago Tribune/Pioneer Press Tuesday.
Co-owner Dino Vlahakis, 63, said his family is closing the vintage cinema, which has been losing money almost constantly since the start of the pandemic; however, they hope that a “knight in shining armor” will take over the operation.
The Vlahakis family has owned the 900 seat theater since 1967.It has been in Park Ridge since 1928 after it opened as a vaudeville house, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, according to information from the Park Ridge History Center.
Currently, Vlahakis said, the Pickwick is slated to show its last film on Jan.8.He thinks the movie will be “Gone With the Wind”.
“We don’t want it closed down, and maybe someone sees this as a golden opportunity for them,” Vlahakis said.“But (co-owner) Dave (Loomos) and I just can’t do it anymore.I’m at the age where I want to go to bed at 10 at night.”
Vlahakis said he plans to retain ownership of the building, which has 24 other tenants.
But it is becoming increasingly difficult to finance the operation of the theater, he said.Part of that is due to fewer movies being available to show in theaters.
“Movies have lost weight,” Vlahakis said.
“At Christmastime, for example, we had (historically) 10 or 11 movies to choose from.We only have five such films that you can show in the cinema this year.”
With fewer films to show, the theater misses out on opportunities to bring back regulars more often, meaning it sells fewer tickets.
“In the old days, if you had a bombshell, at least you had a big hit because you would open… new movies every week,” he added.
The trend toward chain movie theaters hasn’t helped either, he said.
“When I opened the business in 1981, 50% of movie theaters were independent theater owners and then 50% chains,” he said.“Today it’s 95% chains and 5% independent movie theaters.”
That’s not to say that Vlahakis doesn’t think it’s still possible to operate an independent cinema.But he said it takes more creativity than before, and a willingness to weather dry spells.
Vlahakis’ father bought the theater in 1967 along with three other partners, he said.In 1972 his father was the sole proprietor.
He started working as a usher at the Pickwick at age 13, he said, and would watch audiences laugh at the punchline of comedies and jump at the terrifying points of horror films.
Maureen Jones was in the audience on Sunday when Vlahakis announced he planned to close the theater ahead of a screening of the movie “Polar Express.”
“I turned to my husband because we always went there,” Jones recalled.“I’m like, are you kidding me?”
Jones grew up in Park Ridge and said she saw her first-ever movie in Pickwick.
She thinks it was “Pinocchio”.
She said she was sorry to hear the news, but added that she understood the decision from a financial perspective.
“It’s disappointing, but we can’t all live in a museum,” she said.“We have to look ahead.”
The Pickwick has seen many notable moments in its 94 years.It was ready for the close-up when film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert filmed the intro to their television show there.During the summer, recordings for the television show Chicago Fire took place there.Park Ridge Native Hillary Clinton visited and spoke in 2019, and the movie house is running a classic film series curated by Matthew Hoffman.
In addition to the main theater in the Art Deco building, Pickwick’s four smaller movie theaters would also close, co-owner Dave Loomos confirmed.
Vlahakis credited community support from the residents of Park Ridge and adjacent suburbs to keeping the Pickwick afloat for nearly a century.
“They still support the theater — I think they love that it’s an independent, family-run theater,” he said.“The reason we survived is because of the town of Park Ridge and the surrounding areas.”.
