It’s been about 35 years since I first met an enthusiast for the Uptown Theatre and heard tales of its imminent revival and its promise to transform the neighborhood.
The latest report on the topic comes via the Tribune’s Blair Kamin. In the course of a long and engrossing article on the Uptown Theatre’s history and prospects, Kamin tosses off a few jibes at the “diverse, ever-struggling” Uptown neighborhood. He sees the theatre as “an oversized symbol of the teasing promise and ongoing dilapidation of the Uptown neighborhood.”
Ongoing dilapidation? One can only speculate that Kamin hasn’t seen much of Uptown over the past 30 years. It’s a neighborhood that still has many problems, but one that has seen a great deal of new construction and rehab activity during that time span.