Four seasons for Egyptian Theatre?

If the DeKalb city council approves it the Egyptian Theatre could be open year around. What the city council must first approve is ReNew DeKalb’s request to allocate about $1 million in unused TIF funds from the Downtown Redevelopment Project for needed improvements and enhancements to the historic theatre built in 1929.

Because construction has been running ahead of schedule and savings on various projects were realized the monies are available, according to ReNew DeKalb president, Frank Roberts. The funds came from bond sales made to finance the many downtown construction projects. Because those were ten year bonds the money cannot be used for debt retirement, according to Roberts, and must be used in the downtown district.

If approved the Egyptian Theatre would use the money to:

• Complete the project to replace the worn out seats in the theatre. Private donations, organized through the efforts of the Egyptian Theatre Restoration Committee, have raised about $200,000 to date — which is about half of what is needed to replace the 80 year old seats.
• Replace the archaic sound system installed in the early 1980s with a modern system.
• Install air conditioning that would then enable the Egyptian Theatre to offer its facilities for shows, concerts and events on a year around basis.

The Egyptian Theatre is the anchor attraction for Downtown DeKalb. When it hosts events it attracts a lot of people to the shops, restaurants and bars that are downtown.

The city council will first discuss the proposal at a Committee of the Whole meeting on May 9. It is expected the proposal will be on the May 23rd regular city council meeting agenda.