For my sixth-grade birthday, my father reserved the front row of the balcony at the Madison Theater for some friends and I to see Superman II.

Perfect winter weather, as I remember, that December night in 1980. Not too cold with big snowflakes dancing down to earth.

The Madison was always my favorite of all the old-school theaters down on Main Street — the Apollo, the Palace, the Rialto and the Varsity up the hill by Bradley.

So ornate, so regal. The sophistication of the Frederick J. Klein architecture was on display everywhere you’d look from the grand balcony to all the detailed frescoes telling tales throughout the place. Even a young boy could appreciate this unique treasure in our city’s space.

So I was eager to see what’s inside our last standing vintage theater when we went to the Blockbuster Bash thrown by The Madison Preservation Association on Sept. 30.

People packed the parking lot all day. There was good food and good drink and live music morning, noon and night. Plus we got to look inside as The MPA shined a light on what’s happened, what can be done, and what it envisions on the corner of Main and Madison.

“The Blockbuster Bash was a success,” Madison Preservation Association member Mark Misselhorn said via text, “on every level that we anticipated. That includes raising awareness, show of support, and certainly some funds raised.”

Well developed

Built in 1920, the Madison roared through some glory days of this River City. Bougie, indeed. And it was a mighty fine film house up through the ’80s. Then Jay Goldberg started bringing live music onto the stage.

The run was done, though, in 2003. The building got caught up in contractual disputes, had a leaky roof, was set on fire, and there was no real interest to restore it to boot.

That’s all changed.

The Comfort family trust donated the theater to The MPA as part of a $1.3 million sale of its retail space in 2022, according to the Peoria Journal Star.

So it seems the Madison is in some solid hands with a bunch of heavy hitters and philanthropic super heroes. They project full restoration — which includes a remodeled theater, restaurant, event space and a corner bodega — to cost between $30-35 million.

The ticker on the Blockbuster Bash website indicates $86,691 of a targeted 200 grand was raised. And there’ll certainly be more in the coffers after all of the paper from the party is proffered.

I like to think my friends filled up that whole first row as we watched Christopher Reeve soar through the sky that snowy night. And when the Smashing Pumpkins surprised the city and came down from Chicago for a one-off jam right before they went on tour, all of us young punks felt like we were blowing out a grand ballroom.

Good times. Great memories.

There’s a movement to bring all that back, stirred up by those magical feelings: Pride in Peoria. Making Downtown a Downtown again.

It’s been done before at that corner spot. Mike Sullivan opened Sully’s Other Planet in the lobby of the Madison sometime during all those live music shows. SOP’s was that corner restaurant/bodega, and it helped the 500 block of Main come back alive.

Revitalizing

The MPA’s vision intends to revitalize that location as a hub between the two Downtown hotels a couple blocks from the Civic Center.

Think Theater District.

And speaking of being done before, Klein, the Peoria architect, also designed the Coronado Theater in Rockford. The sister-theater of our Madison went through a renovation for $18.5 million 20-some years ago, according to WCBU, and apparently things are going quite well surrounding that island of elegance up north.

I once went to a wedding on the second floor lobby of the Madison and it seemed like we were in an Italian cathedral, albeit an old one. The venue was pretty run down during that late ’90s November reign.

My glasses got smashed in the mosh pit at that Pumpkins show. And the old Madison is still pretty trashed — not too posh, we all must admit.

The tour guides at the Blockbuster Bash said the roof is fixed so there will be no more water damage. That’s good, because the House still smells fairly funky. The place is a plasterer’s nightmare. But it’s an architect’s (and construction company’s) dream — and The MPA’s.

Work of art

Daprato Rigali Studios from Chicago was brought in, and the art restoration firm went to work on a wall and its frescoes and was able to recreate them to perfection. Go to the website themadisonpeoria.org to see a rendering of just what is possible for the theater. The vision.

It’s going to take a super human effort to complete this project — and a whole lot financing.

“As you can imagine,” Misselhorn stated, “a project of this size and type needs a significant capital campaign in order to move ahead in a substantial way.

“Our Board is working on capital campaign planning to do just that.”

So stay tuned, true believers. There’s people in Peoria — men and women of steel — who want to make this dream come true. They see something super on the horizon.

There’s a spirit in that arena. Run-DMC turned that mother out on another winter night at the turn of the century when the old barn was in its most dilapidated state. Nobody noticed.

The timetable will certainly not be as fast as a speeding bullet. The retail space, which has been run under several businesses since it was SOP’s, is state of the art and will move along quicker. Restaurant Two25 from the Mark Twain Hotel is said to be setting up shop.

The theater restoration will need that strength of a locomotive, though. The Madison Preservation Association is emboldened by its vision, lured by its dream.

Like that perfectly light snowflake you catch on your tongue on a wonderful winter night.

Brian Ludwig is Managing Editor of The Community Word