The Elgin City Council will provide more than $660,000 in city TIF funding to the theater company renovating a downtown building into a new performing arts center.
MTK Properties purchased the former Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge at Village Court and DuPage Street in December 2023. The 13,500-square-foot, two-story Tudor Revival building dates to 1927 and had been used by the fraternal organization for more than 70 years.
The Tax Increment Financing money earmarked by the city is an economic incentive for first phase of the building’s redevelopment. A 138-seat performance space will be created on the first floor and a lower level area, with 70 to 75 seats, is being for possible future use as the Elgin Art Showcase location, City Manager Rick Kozal said.
Phase I work includes substantial structural, electrical and mechanical work to accommodate three new rooftop HVAC units, Kozal said. “To add insult to injury, the entire roof needs to be replaced due to some chronic leaking,” he said.
MTK is spending $1.9 million on the renovations and $500,000 on a new sound system, Kozal said.
Called “The Lodge,” it will serve as the home for point2productions, a theater company affiliated with Schaumburg on Stage, once the initial construction work is complete.
Mary Alice Benoit, executive director of Schaumburg on Stage, said point2productions started performing at the Elgin Art Showcase seven years ago after seeing a social media notice. The for-profit children and youth theater group puts on three productions a year.
“We were looking for a small performance space for programming for our youth,” Benoit said. “We fell in love with Elgin. … My husband and I decided it was a worthy project and a beautiful building. We went ahead and purchased it with the hope of redeveloping it.”
Benoit spoke at Wednesday’s Elgin City Council meeting, where she received support and approval for the funding.
“We are a city that supports redevelopment, number one, and preservation of beautiful old buildings,” Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger said. “I have been in that building several times, and it’s a gorgeous building.”
It’s been preserved to a certain degree but lack of maintenance has taken its toll, Benoit said. The damage is “nothing so beyond repair that it can’t be (returned) to its former glory,” she said.
MTK plans to start the second phase of renovation in 2028 or later, depending on funding for the $2.1 million project. That work would add more seats to the main performance area so that Schaumburg on Stage can move into the space.
Councilman Corey Dixon congratulated Benoit and MTK for moving ahead with their ambitious project.
“We like to believe we are the arts center of the northwest suburbs,” Dixon said, noting that the time is perfect for The Lodge to open downtown because of other changes that have been occurring, including the revamped outdoor DuPage Court area.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.