By Kyle Pancham
TECHNEWS WRITER

Two weeks ago, IIT’s IPRO 364 paid
another visit to our neighbor, the Ramova
Theater, at 3518 SI Halsted in Bridgeport What
could possibly motivate our IPRO team to visit
a shuttered theater?

Simply put, the community is crying
out for a massive restoration and rebirth of the
Ramova in the very near future The time has
come to restore and reuse the Ramova Theater!

A brief history of the Ramova starts
with its opening on August 18, 1929, in
Bridgeport as a sister to the Music Box Theater
at 3733 NI Southportr What makes the Ramova
special is that it is a 14007seat atmospheric
theater, the largest in the area One of the
Ramova’s highlights was showing “The Great
Dictator," Charlie Chaplin’s satirical film about
Nazi Germany

Unfortunately, the theater closed in
1986 and it has since sat vacant, accumulating
water damage and the curiosity of many people
over the last 25 years This mysterious, shuttered
theater has managed to

work its way into the hearts and minds of
many of Bridgeport’s past and present residents,
from ages 87801

Some of these fans have banded

together to form Save the Ramova (StR), which

was spearheaded by Maureen Sullivan and Rob
Warmowski, in partnership with local residents
StR currently hosts 2700 fans on Facebook
Through work with StR, students in IPRO 364
have acquired a clearer understanding of the
impact that restoring the Ramova would have on
Bridgeport and the theaters sentimental value
to the neighborhood, city, and greater theater
community

So, how and why did IPRO 364
begin? IPRO 364 is one of the first IPRO 20
classes to gain approval from the faculty and
student body of HT The idea for a collaboration
between IPRO and StR to restore the theater
was originally suggested by Robert Chaney, a
biomedical student at IIT All of the classes for
IPRO 364 have been led by Institute of Design
Adjunct Professor Limia Shuniai IPRO 364 has
evolved greatly over the past several semestersi
IPRO 364 started in fall 2010 and continued into
201 11

During spring 2011, a massive effort
to collect data about Bridgeport was undertaken
by IPRO 364 to get a better understanding on
what people and local businesses wanted in the
renovation The data gathered informed the
students how the community would best use
the renovated theater In conjunction with the
Bridgeport data collection, information was
collected from other local college students to
determine what types of programming they

would support at the theater From surveying
these groups, IPRO 364 was able to construct
a better picture on what types of amenities and
programming would be best for the Ramova
During summer 2011, IPRO 364 was able to
create an energy map of power consumption
by the Ramova, floor plans, and a final tally of
the different amenities people want to see in the
theater

Getting backto the present, IPRO 364
entered the Ramova to obtain measurements,
determine what features can be retained and
reius ed, and gain an overall sense of the theaters
current condition

Upon entering the theater, I was
amazed by how intact it was Sure, there were
some water, damaged locations throughout, but
I was more impressed with it being relatively
intact

The auditorium itself amazed me,
purelybecause I have never been inside avintage
theater before I was in awe at the size of the
room and its overall layouti Sure, there were
chairs missing, but that did not matter What
did matter was the fact that I was finally inside
the heart and soul of the Ramova itself and in
a way it impressed upon me the importance of
seeing this theater renovatedi

Overall, the trip itself was very helpfiJl
for me and other members of the IPROI It
was also very valuable to be accompanied by

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Bridgeport

P170 ms courtesy ofIPRO 364: Ramovation

preservationist Ray Shepardson, who is one
of the most accomplished theater restoration
experts in the United States Ray Shepardson is
also interested in the restoration of the Ramova
and knows that its restoration willbe a valuable
asset for Chicagoland and the local theater
communityr Overall, I found the trip to be
invaluable and know that it will be an experience
I won’t forget soon

To wrap up, IPRO 364 has many
goals to accomplish this semester IPRO 364
will continue until at least next semester and
maybe beyond that

Over the course of this semester, we
have taken a look at utilizing green technology
in the Ramova to reduce its energy costs, as
well as considered a closed loop design, how to
refuse waste products, and reduce the overall
amount of waste produced

In addition to researching green
technology, IPRO 364 has been able to build a
better scope for meeting the Ramova’s energy
needs, organizing the theater to fit what our
programming goals are, constructing a 3D
model of the Ramova, and considering the
building configuration to incorporate all of
these concepts

In closing, I feel as though, with the
past three semesters of work on the project, we
could be looking at the Ramova reopening in
the near fi.1ture, and for that I have high hopes