EDWARDSVILLE – The public is invited to take part in a festive “grand relighting” ceremony in early December to celebrate the soon-to-be-finished renovation of the Wildey Theatre marquee.
City officials and supporters will flip the switch at 6 p.m. Tuesday, December 3, to reveal the newly restored neon glow and other improvements to the historic downtown theater’s marquee.
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The event will be jointly hosted by Mayor Art Risavy and elected officials and the Friends of the Wildey organization, which raises funds for the 115-year-old theater, concert hall and event center at 252 N. Main Street. The Friends provided just over $67,000 to pay for the bulk of the marquee work. Joe Hutton of Miller & Maack General Contractors donated design and coordination services. “Whether you’ve been coming to the Wildey for decades or haven’t yet experienced this downtown treasure, we hope you’ll join us for this fun occasion,” Mayor Risavy said. “We are grateful to our longtime supporters, namely the Friends of the Wildey, for the funds, time and attention they generously provide for this fantastic venue.”
The ceremony will feature an audience countdown leading up to the relighting, and participants will be treated to hot cocoa, courtesy of the Friends of the Wildey. The event will precede the scheduled 7 p.m. Tuesday night movie, “A Christmas Story,” and the Friends will offer commemorative Wildey ornaments for sale. Funds raised from those sales will contribute to future projects. Work crews expect to soon wrap up nearly six weeks of work that has included applying five different shades of paint to the marquee, updating components and other lighting and replacing the worn-out neon tubing. Nearly 100 sections of neon are being painstakingly curved to fit the marquee and letters that frame it.
Among companies participating in the project are Miller & Maack General Contractors, Eberhart Signs and Ev’rglo Neon Signs. The last substantial marquee makeover was completed in 2005, but did not include a full restoration of the neon tubes that adorn the structure, said Rich Walker, a former City alderman who is now a Friends of the Wildey member. Walker, who advocated for the City to save and restore the shuttered venue after it ceased full-time operations in 1984, said a full restoration of the marquee was a “leftover project” from the 2011 reopening that supporters have long hoped to complete.
The Wildey Theater was originally built as an opera house, opening in 1909. The existing marquee was added in the 1930s as part of a renovation that imbued the venue with a glitzy art deco-inspired style. The City bought the Wildey in 1999, and it now serves as a 326-seat venue that hosts concerts, movies, public events and private gatherings. More information on the Wildey is available at: www.wildeytheatre.com
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