The final curtain is coming down on one of the South Loop’s most storied stages. DePaul University will close the Merle Reskin Theatre at the end of May, taking the landmarked, century-old playhouse dark that has hosted student productions and family shows for generations. The move shutters the theatre's mainstage after the current run and pushes The Theatre School to consolidate its performances back to DePaul’s Lincoln Park facilities.
University cites budget crisis
DePaul disclosed the decision in a statement reported by the Chicago Sun‑Times, tying the closure to a budget crunch made worse by a drop in tuition‑paying international students. The university said it is “working to determine the future use of the Merle Reskin Theatre,” according to the Sun‑Times. The cut follows DePaul’s February decision to wind down operations at the DePaul Art Museum, a move public radio reported as part of broader campus belt‑tightening.
A landmark on Balbo
Built in 1910 and designed by architect Benjamin H. Marshall, the Merle Reskin is a Beaux‑Arts proscenium theatre in the Michigan Boulevard historic district. DePaul University lists the venue at 60 E. Balbo Drive, with seating for roughly 1,325. The theatre was refurbished and reopened under the Reskin name in the early 1990s, giving the historic house a second act as a downtown home for DePaul’s theatre program.
Local leaders alarmed
The announcement landed poorly with preservationists and downtown boosters. “I’m sick about it,” Jane Lepauw, president of the Benjamin Marshall Society, told the Chicago Sun‑Times. Rich Gamble, interim CEO of the Chicago Loop Alliance, said his organization has been in talks with DePaul about the building and is pushing for a path that keeps the area’s cultural life active rather than letting another key venue go dark.
What this means for students and families
The Theatre School says its Chicago Playworks family series will live on, just not downtown. Performances are set to continue this fall at the school’s Lincoln Park building, and the program plans to move operations there after the Reskin’s last scheduled shows in May, according to reporting in Newcity. Students and smaller productions will rely on the Lincoln Park stages while the university debates what comes next for the now‑idle downtown house.
Why preservationists worry
Advocates warn that mothballing a landmark theatre often leads to long stretches of vacancy and deferred maintenance, problems that get harder and more expensive to fix the longer a building sits unused. With DePaul already taking heat over museum cuts and program consolidations, theater and preservation groups say they intend to press the university and city officials for a concrete plan that protects both the Merle Reskin’s historic shell and the broader downtown arts ecosystem that has grown up around it.
