Rialto Square Theatre Faces Uncertain Future

The Rialto Square Theater in Downtown Joliet faces uncertain times ahead due to financial difficulties. The theatre is asking the city for $500,000 in 2017, which is actually a smaller amount than 2016, but the city is expressing doubts on if they will be able to fulfill this request. Mayor Bod O’Dekirk stated on Monday that, “I think we were pretty clear that the days of sending money year after year without it being earmarked for anything are over.”

VenuWorks, the entity that took over management of the theatre in September, will make a presentation to City Council on Thursday. The presentation will outline the plans for the next couple of years for the theatre as a whole and why the monetary help is necessary. Theatre management has stated that they project less dependency on city funds in the coming years but still plan on working from a deficit at least until 2021 even with monetary help from the city. The plan however does not specify how exactly the funds will be used, coming into conflict with Mayor O’Dekirk’s comments on Monday.

The monetary problems became a major issue when earlier this year the theatre fell behind on payroll taxes and began to struggle to pay performers. These issues have begun to be remedied, using monetary help from the city and more stable management under VenuWorks, but the future of the historic theatre is still very uncertain.