On Thursday night, TimeLine Theatre finally lit up its long-awaited Uptown home, flipping the switch on a new vertical marquee that now glows over 5035 N. Broadway. The private friends-and-family ceremony kicked off a full weekend of preview events, including a public open house and a mayoral ribbon-cutting on Saturday. For a company that bought the building more than seven years ago and has been chasing a permanent address for even longer, the illuminated sign is a hard-to-miss symbol that the search is over.
The lighting was invitation-only, following the completion of a new $46 million theater complex financed largely by individual donors, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. Earlier public support included a $1.5 million capital grant from the State of Illinois that helped move the project forward, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. A mayoral ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, followed by an afternoon open house for neighbors and the general public, is on the schedule, per BroadwayWorld. Company leaders told the Tribune the glowing blade is meant to knit the new building into Uptown’s historic theater streetscape.
Design and program
Designed by HGA, the project pairs roughly 21,000 square feet of new construction along Broadway with about 12,600 square feet of adaptive reuse inside the neighboring Reebie Bros. warehouse, creating around 33,600 square feet devoted to theater, rehearsal, gallery, and community space, as described by Spotlight on Lake. At the core is a flexible 250-seat black-box theater that can be configured for multiple stage arrangements, giving TimeLine options for how audiences and performers meet in the room.
Outside, a 40-foot vertical blade marquee and a green-hued canopy are designed to echo Uptown landmarks and signal that this is firmly part of the neighborhood’s entertainment strip. Inside at street level, plans call for exhibit galleries, a bar and café, and rehearsal spaces that are visible from the sidewalk, all intended to draw in neighbors who might first come for a coffee or a look around and later return for a show.
The overall build, reported at about $46 million, was financed mainly through private gifts, with individual donors and the capital campaign covering the largest share, according to the Chicago Tribune. The earlier $1.5 million state capital grant cited by the Chicago Sun-Times helped set the project in motion, and TimeLine’s own fundraising materials say the company has already raised most of what it needs to finish construction.
What it means for Uptown
TimeLine’s move adds another performing arts anchor to Uptown’s entertainment corridor, which already mixes big historic venues with smaller stages that attract both out-of-towners and neighborhood regulars, a landscape outlined by American Theatre. Local businesses and community groups have said a year-round theater presence could boost evening foot traffic and widen access to TimeLine’s Living History education programs for Chicago Public Schools students.
The company has scheduled a civic celebration and ribbon-cutting for 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, followed by a public open house that afternoon, according to BroadwayWorld. TimeLine plans to officially open the new space in May with the Chicago premiere of An Enemy of the People, which outlets covering the season list as running May 6 through June 7 from the Uptown venue.
“Our new home is a place where the community will gather, learn, and be inspired,” TimeLine executive director Mica Cole said in a statement on the company’s website. The organization’s history page notes that TimeLine began in 1997 and has grown under artistic director PJ Powers into a company focused on historically inspired productions and education programs (About TimeLine). Company leaders say the additional space will allow TimeLine to expand its Living History work and stage larger productions closer to the community it serves.
Uptown merchants and audiences will now watch to see whether the new venue brings the kind of steady nighttime crowds that longtime neighborhood anchors enjoy. For the moment, though, the glowing marquee is a clear sign that TimeLine has gone from aspiration to actual address. Tickets for the May opener are set to go on sale soon, and the company says it will begin hosting regular community and school programs from the new home later this spring.
