The push to rehab a historic theater is gaining traction: The latest effort to save Balaban & Katz's first movie palace in North Lawndale could cost up to $25 million and would incorporate a community center. But will it go the way of other floundering theater preservation projects?

The multilevel theater with ornate balcony boxes is thought to be the first that offered mechanized air conditioning to guests - though it now lacks any HVAC system - and served as a blueprint for other luxurious movie palaces developed by Balaban & Katz including the Chicago, Uptown, Riviera and Oriental (now Nederlander) theaters. The push to rehab a historic theater is gaining traction: The latest effort to save Balaban & Katz's first movie palace in North Lawndale could cost up to $25 million and would incorporate a community center. But will it go the way of other floundering theater preservation projects?. [Extracted from the article]