Community mourns loss of historic Kirkwood theater

On a cold and dreary day during Thanksgiving break, the Von Lee Theater blends perfectly into the Bloomington scenery. The 72-year-old building is abandoned, much like the campus. And like the landscape around it, the decaying building mirrors a long, hard winter to come.\nPeering into the dust-smudged doors, it seems as if the theater is trapped in time. The main lobby is sporadically covered with gum wrappers and grime. Two empty spray bottles sit on the concession stand. And to the side of the main entrance is a vacuum cleaner and broom, hanging around for the groups of messy movie buffs.\n While most newcomers to Bloomington refer to it as the closed-down movie theater, the Von Lee has a long history in this town. The Ritz, as it was called when it first opened, was built in 1928 by architect John Nichols and served as a conventional movie house until the Great Depression. It was then converted into a grocery store called Peterson's during the 1930s and remained so through the 1940s. \nIn 1948, Harry and Nora Vonderschmitt bought Peterson's and renovated it until 1976 into what is now called the Von Lee. The Von Lee became the movie theater for foreign and non-commercial films, which Clark attributed to Nora Vonderschmitt's insistence.\nBy 1976, the Vonderschmitt family had had enough of the movie business and sold the Von Lee to the Kerasotes theater chain of Springfield, Ill. In 1983, Kerasotes added a third screen to the Von Lee and installed new restrooms in an attempt to increase its patronage.\nBut on May 24, 2000, the Von Lee closed its doors indefinitely. Owners cited a major decline in viewer turnouts, mostly because of the summer exodus of students and the immense construction project that blocked off most of Kirkwood Avenue as the reason for the closing.\nRuthie Wittenberg, a former undergraduate, said she misses the Von Lee.\n"It was just a cool place -- it wasn't nice inside, but it didn't matter," she said. "The sound was bad, the seats were uncomfortable and it smelled terrible. But you were getting the art films that no one else was showing, and it was a fun time. There was a funky ambiance."\nFor Anita Rollo, a graduate student in music, the Von Lee reminded her of her hometown movie theater.\n"It was dilapidated and run down but it showed some really great movies," she said.\nThe Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission has designated the Von Lee a historical site, in an attempt to keep the theater from being torn down. The commission even wrote a letter to Bob Gallivan, director of real estate for Kerasotes, asking him to outline Kerasotes' future plans with the Von Lee. It hinted that many local business people would be interested in running the theater.\nToday, the Von Lee's neon sign remains in storage and poster holders that once displayed numerous art house films, swing empty in the cold November wind. There are no immediate plans for the Von Lee, but former patrons such as Rollo are keeping the faith.\n"I really wish they'd bring it back," she said. "I feel sorry for the freshmen who've been cheated out of great movie-going experience"