Monday, May 7, 2012
Residents and readers voice strong opinions about the City Council's decision to close the Highland Park Movie Theater.
On Sunday evening, Highland Park's City Council announced the closure of the Movie Theater and Port Clilnton's Garage. Independent inspections by Fire Chief Pat Tanner revealed that both venues violate several fire safety codes. The inspections commenced Thursday and are still on-going, according to a statement from the city council. While we broke the story less than 24 hours ago, readers have been quick to react on the site and on Facebook. Want Highland Park City Council news in your inbox? Subscribe to Patch's newsletter. Many readers, like Michael Garcia, were especially shocked by the theater closure. "Wow! We were just there yesterday enjoying the Avengers. Hopefully for the safety of their customers they can fix these issues and …
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Both venues have violated fire safety codes, according to the City of Highland Park.
Highland Park's City Council has unanimously decided to shut down the Port Clinton Garage and the Highland Park Theater due to fire saftey violations, according to a statement released by Mayor Nancy Rotering. The decisions come as a result of preliminary findings by Fire Chief Pat Tanner "during an independent inspection of fire safety conditions [that] started Thursday and [is] still on-going." Earlier: Bidding Process Begins for Theater These independent inspections had been ordered by the council after concerns were raised about the security of the venues. “Public safety is paramount and the conditions highlighted by the inspectors were unacceptable,” said Mayor Nancy Rotering in the statement. “We are taking necessary steps to ensure …
Friday, December 23, 2011
See what's playing nearby this week.
Try our new Moviefone widget to find what's playing at the Highland Park Theater and Landmark Renaissance Theater this week.
Friday, September 16, 2011
City starts formal process to decide future of historic movie house.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) for ideas for the future of the Highland Park Theatre will be released Friday following the City Council's decision Monday to continue the procedure it has been developing for the last three months. After the RFP is put out, tours to potential buyers and developers will be given the week of Sept. 26. Then proposals will be whittled down to those the Council feel are worthy of an interview. The winning idea will be chosen Nov. 30. Resident reaction welcome Once the choice is made, the City Council will begin the formal approval process, which will include at least one public hearing where residents will be invited to share their thoughts, according to Mayor Nancy Rotering. Read More: Residents Question Theater…
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Mayor Rotering demands performance from utility.
Though ComEd gave the Highland Park City Council a plan Monday to improve pocket areas of chronic outage, Mayor Nancy Rotering still wants the utility to return to one more time to discuss its results. Earlier: Mayor tells ComEd 'Enough is Enough' ComEd returned to Monday’s regularly scheduled Council meeting as it promised it would do in July with proposals to improve infrastructure in parts of the city that have had outages unrelated to storm activity. In other action, the Council agreed at its Committee of the Whole meeting earlier Monday to release its Request for Proposal to gather ideas for the future of the Highland Park Theater. The city’s legislative body also received an update on proposals to improve the Ravinia business …
Monday, September 12, 2011
No clear consensus among residents for Highland Park Theater's future.
No clear consensus of public opinion on the future of the Highland Park Theatre came out of a special meeting of the City Council’s Committee of the Whole Wednesday at City Hall. More than 30 people attended to hear the Council’s progress on its plans with the theater and voice their opinion on future ideas. Earlier: Potential Highland Park Theatre Owner Steps Forward The lack of cohesive support of for any specific use combined with criticism over the City’s proposed process to determine the property’s future led Mayor Nancy Rotering to reconsider the next steps. “We’re going to take a look at the process that will get the best conclusion,” Rotering said. “The economic impact will be big to downtown Highland Park. We really need to …
Thursday, August 11, 2011
City Council sets Sept. 7 meeting date as it puts final touches on bid guidelines.
A meeting to gather public input on the future of the Highland Park Theatre is scheduled on Sept. 7 before the City Council puts the final touches on a Request for Proposals (RFP) set for five days later. Community Development Director Michael Blue announced the public hearing at Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting and said it aimed to allow maximum attendance after the Labor Day holiday. Neither the time nor location of the Sept. 7 meeting has been determined. Blue indicated the information would be available by Aug. 15. Blue disclosed a timetable for a decision by Nov. 25 along with a 12-page draft RFP for council members to review at Monday’s meeting. During debate over the RFP language, Councilmen Jim Kirsch and Steve Mandel …
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Rotering asks Council for their input by Friday.
Progress on the future of the Highland Park Theatre continued as the City Council was promised a draft of a Request for Proposal (RFP) from City Manager Dave Limardi Monday at its Committee of the Whole Meeting prior to the regularly scheduled gathering. Mayor Nancy Rotering and the Council members were given a questionnaire by Limardi to indicate their priorities and preferences for the theater. Rotering asked for their input by Friday. Limardi will then prepare the RFP for the Council’s review July 25. Just before the regular meeting, Daniel Kaufman was sworn in as the newest member of the Council by Judge Mitch Hoffman, bringing the city’s legislative body to full strength of seven members for the first time since inauguration of new …
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Large crowd attends first meeting to address fate of city-owned theater.
Less than two months after Mayor Nancy Rotering and three new councilmen took office, one of the campaign’s hottest issues, the Highland Park Theatre’s future, was discussed before an overflowing crowd at the City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting Monday. Though the theater issue was debated by Rotering and newly minted Councilmen Tony Blumberg, Paul Frank and David Naftzger during the campaign, it was veteran Councilmen Steve Mandel and Jim Kirsch who spoke most passionately about the building's future Monday. “The east side of downtown has to be anchored by art and entertainment. We do not want to give up on that goal,” Kirsch said. Mandel, the council’s longest serving member, voted with Kirsch for the city to acquire the …
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Mayor plans to tour property with council before meeting.
Just before Monday night's City Council meeting adjourned, newly minted City Councilman Paul Frank asked whether or not a discussion of the future of the Highland Park Theater was scheduled soon. Mayor Nancy Rotering responded the topic was on the agenda for a meeting of the Committee of the Whole prior to the regularly scheduled June 27 City Council meeting. Committee of the Whole gatherings are open to the public. “I heard we were going to be talking about it (the theater), but nothing was mentioned at the meeting,” Frank said, explaining the reasoning for his last minute inquiry. “I am happy to know we are going to be talking about it.” The Highland Park Theater has been a controversial issue since the city purchased it from its …
HP insider
7:52 pm on Monday, May 7, 2012
The Highland Park News has details of the violations as well as the fallout. more ›