WEST LOOP — A Wicker Park-based children's theater company wants to move into a former West Loop police station, but will first hold a public meeting to gauge community interest.
Started in 2005, Chicago Children's Theater currently has administrative offices at 1464 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park but no permanent home for its theater. Instead, it partners with theaters like Redmoon, the Goodman, and the Ruth Page Center for the Arts to host its performances.
But now, the children's theater group is in the "preliminary phase" of moving into 100 S. Racine Ave. — the old 12th district police station, originally built in 1948 — according to Jay Kelly, a spokesman for the group.
The 12th District police moved into their new station, 1412 S. Blue Island Ave., at the end of 2012.
To get feedback from the neighborhood, Chicago Children's Theater will hold a community meeting Aug. 26 at the Civic Lab, 114 N. Aberdeen St., at 7 p.m. The meeting will be co-hosted by neighborhood group the West Loop Community Organization.
"Recognizing the many benefits of having all of the company’s programs in one space, this community meeting is one of the preliminary steps to potentially consolidate all of Chicago Children’s Theatre’s programs under one roof and to better serve its constituency," Kelly said via email.
According to Kelly, the targeted timeline is to begin construction in the spring of 2015 with the first performance in the spring of 2016.
