Von Lee expected to open March 15, won't show movies

After being closed for seven years, the Von Lee building near Kirkwood and Indiana avenues will soon open its doors to Bloomington residents.\nReconstruction of the Von Lee will be completed on March 15, said Will Kreuzer of the Tartan Realty Group, which is developing the reconstruction. The project cost $4 million said Doug Bruce, lead architect with Tabor/Bruce/Puzzello & Associates said in an e-mail.\nBuilt in the late 1920s, the Von Lee used to entertain its guests by showing movies. But now, the Von Lee will not be allowed to show films.\nKreuzer said because the property is deed-restricted, legally movies will not and cannot be shown at the property.\nKerasotes Theatres Inc., the former owner of the building, issued the deed and the Von Lee was then closed in 2000, according to a Dec. 1, 2003 Indiana Daily Student article.\nThe Von Lee is now being reconstructed for different purposes. \n"The Von Lee redevelopment is a three-story mixed-use building with retail on the first floor and office space for IU on the second and third floor," Kreuzer said.\nOn the top two floors, the IU Office of Creative Services will be located in the office space. Right now, the office is located in two different buildings, the Poplars Research and Conference Center and the Carmichael Center.\n"We're moving to the Von Lee so we can put all the offices in the same location," said Marcia Busch-Jones, director of IU Office of Creative Services, which promotes IU. "It will be more efficient for our company so we don't have to move back and forth between locations."\nNoodles & Company, a restaurant chain with various locations around the U.S., will be occupying space on the first floor, according to its Web site. At this time, there are no other tenants on the ground floor, but Kreuzer said he expects more tenants to occupy the spaces by the time they open in the spring.\nDuring the renovation, builders will keep parts of the old theater.\n"We saved all of the original walls of the building and replicated the Von Lee sign and put it back on the canopy," Kreuzer said. "We also saved three original chandeliers that were in the old theater, completely rewired them, and they will be showcased in the Noodles space."\n"The old theater was damaged with neglect and had been modified so much that nothing was left to save,", Bruce said. "We did remove and restore a few items from the interior, the lobby light fixtures and a few plaster castings that adorned the lobby walls."\nThe Von Lee is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building in Bloomington, according to the U.S. Green Building Council Web site. This means it's a "high performance green building" that helps the environment, according to the site. Bruce said being a LEED building is an important part of the Von Lee.\n"The most special part of the building is the legacy we have created as this building is the first LEED building in Bloomington," he said.