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Community Corner

Show of Hands at Des Plaines Theatre Renovation

Willows Academy students volunteer for the day in helping with historic landmark's makeover.

The Des Plaines Theatre renovation project moved forward with the help of local high school students Nov. 12. About 30 girls from Willows Academy demolished ceiling panels, painted walls, cleaned seats and scrubbed parts of the building facade in doing their part in the remodeling effort.

Other residents have volunteered to work on the building, and several other groups are scheduled to help. But the seniors and stage crew members from the Catholic school were the first group of volunteers to get their hands dirty since the project began Oct. 24.

If the renovations stay on schedule, Willows Academy students will perform a musical next spring at the 85-year-old theater.

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Kerry Sherbin, a Park Ridge resident and junior at the school, says putting in the volunteer hours builds character and sometimes, as was the case working at the theater, she gets to socialize with friends on the job.

"It's actually a lot of fun because you get to hang out with your friends," Sherbin said. "And it's really cool to watch it transform into something that you're going to use the rest of your school years."

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There are several connections between Willows Academy and the Des Plaines Theatre. The school has used the theater across the street, Stage One Productions, for its performances for many years.

Essentially two people--Gay Miezin and Karen Wilberg--run Stage One. Miezin, director of development, was hired by the Des Plaines Theatre's property owner to manage the renovation, and Wilberg, artistic director, is also the fine arts department chair at Willows Academy. Both women have worked with the girls during summers at the organization's two-week theater camp.

Stage One and Willows Academy will be anchor tenants in the renovated theater.

The students were excited to play a role in fixing up the historical landmark, transforming it from an old and tired building into a vibrant, living space, Wilberg said.

"It's nice to see kids of this age caring about something that isn't them because it's really easy when you're that age to be very self-absorbed and to think, 'OK, I want this for me,' " Wilberg said. "And this isn't terribly glamorous work that they're doing. But they're just excited to be a part of it, and I think that's refreshing to see."

Lena Budinger, a senior and former volunteer counselor at the theater summer camp, says it is important to help because the students have gotten so much from Stage One over the years.

"And if we want to be able to use it, we want to be able to put some effort into it," Budinger said. "It also makes it so much more worthwhile once we put on a play to know that we were involved in every part of helping make the theater come to life."

Miezin said it's a fabulous experience for the teenagers to assist in the renovation work for many reasons, not the least of which is feeling a sense of belonging at the place. In 2000 when Stage One's current location was renovated, another group of students helped out.

"They really had ownership of that theater and absolutely loved it," Miezin said. "That's what this opportunity is providing to this class of kids. It's going to feel like it's theirs.

"Everybody that comes, people from the community, people from the art groups, people from any of the schools, they're going to feel like it's theirs because they got to do something to make it alive again," she added.

Anyone interested in volunteering to help with the renovation is urged to contact Stage One. Students from Northridge Preparatory School, an all-boys school in Niles that often coordinates activities with Willows Academy, are also scheduled to help fix up the Des Plaines Theatre this year.

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