Pickwick Theatre is approaching City of Park Ridge about selling alcohol to patrons
The next iteration of entertainment at the Pickwick Theatre could soon include alcohol along with live entertainment and movies.
The Copernicus Foundation, which is taking over operations for the largest space at the Park Ridge landmark, has approached the city of Park Ridge about selling alcohol to people attending events in the iconic Theater One, also called the main theater.
News that the Copernicus organization would succeed longtime owners and operators Dino Vlahakis and Dave Loomos broke in July after months of speculation about the theater’s future. Vlahakis and Loomos are retaining ownership of the building as a whole while longtime general manager Kathryn Tobias is programming the back four theaters.
The possibility of a more built-out entertainment and hospitality business at the theater emerged almost as soon as Loomos and Vlahakis announced they’d stop showing movies at the Pickwick and a battery of potential heirs to the movie operation lined up to talk to the owners.
When the Copernicus Foundation announced it would take over the front theater, Vlahakis gestured at a more extensive food and beverage program for those attending live and screened performances in the space.
In a letter to the Park Ridge liquor license review board, Foundation chair and Pickwick property broker Hubert Cioromski laid out the first details of what that program could look like.
The letter states that the goal is to offer bar service to patrons during operating hours as well as special events.
“The Pickwick will not operate in a manner where the sale of alcoholic beverages is the primary business activity,” it reads.
Any “bottle service” in the space will focus on beer and wine instead of hard liquor, the letter states, and the planned approach to food is to rely on neighboring restaurants for catering at special events.
“We’re not there to compete for the food business,” Cioromski told Pioneer Press. “We’re there to supply great entertainment for the community.”
While the Copernicus Foundation pursues a liquor license from the city, it’s also looking at some changes to the theater building itself. Cioromski said the dressing rooms in the building’s basement would come back into use, the building’s restrooms would get an update and the stage in Theater One will be expanded to accommodate live performing arts.
The “megascreen” is set to come down in late September, per previous reporting; however, the Pickwick’s original movie screen is still in place behind it.
Cioromski said a grand opening for the theater’s next chapter would likely take place in the late fall.
