PEORIA’S LITTLE THEATER
NORMAN
V. KELLY
After spending over three decades studying Peoria’s
incredible history one thought always came back to me and that was the
people. The men and women who way back
as far as 1845, and even before that, had a vision for this city and they
fought long and hard to bring their dreams to fruition. So many things that our
local hard working folks talk about as to our future was already thought about
and in many cases part of our history long before these folks were born. Let’s start
with just one example. The building of our current Civic Center cost us our
beloved Rialto Theater. There were many
of us that thought that the Rialto should have been left standing and that the
Civic Center should have been built by including it within the structure of the
Civic Center. I must admit that for me
personally I stole that idea from a building I am about to tell you about.
The Peoria Women’s Club, from an idea brought to them
in 1919 decided that they wanted a place to house The Peoria Players Theater.
So they formed a committee back in the days when a
committee was formed to actually accomplish something, not to just “Kick the
can down the road,” All that hard work of
about 400 people with dynamic leadership struggled and often failed in their
attempts to finance the building they had in mind. But they never gave up and finally in 1930
they had ceased asking for outside help, and locally they raised the money and
the building was built for $5,100. They
had many leaders and with a lot of support one glorious day, April 2. 1933
their Little Theater was dedicated and opened for public view.
The truth is the building was designated The Civic Art
Center, which included other activities within the building other than the
productions by the Peoria Players. The
beautiful, efficient building had a spacious stage and would comfortably seat
363 patrons with a lot more room left over for many art and cultural
activities. As I mentioned this idea
started way back in 1919, so when it came time to debate the Civic Center here
in Peoria there were some folks that thought that having the Rialto Theater
right there inside the Civic Center was a damn good idea…I guess we were wrong,
huh? So many of our wonderful,
historical buildings have ‘bit the dust’ over the last fifty years that tearing
down one more old theater was no obstacle. I realize it is always a matter of
money, but some things just seemed more important to Peorians than just the
money. Oh, by the way for you snobs out there the Little Theater was not
spelled theatre when it was opened.
PRESIDENT GEORGE
LYON JR.
As I mentioned there were a lot of people responsible
for the Peoria Player’s First Building there on Jackson Street but the men and
women that lead this dynamic group were the driving force behind it. I decided
to tell you about a real civic leader, a leader of men, and a man that was
highly respected and admired here in Peoria during that era. His name was George Lyon Jr. Mr. Lyon was President of the Peoria Players
at that crucial time. I picked him because not only was he the man I
just spoke of he became a hero as well. Since I have written volumes of
true-crime stories I wanted to tell you about George, an army veteran and one
tough guy.
Mr. Lyon was a wealthy man and lived in a magnificent
house he called Breeze Crest. On June
five, 1933, his household was awakened by an intruder that demanded his wife’s
jewels and he and his father-in-law’s billfolds. The man confronted the sleeping folks with a
very scary gun. George didn’t say
anything, he just listened. Suddenly from behind his back he pulled out his
trusty army .45 and fired one shot. The
massive slug smashed into the side of the culprit and slammed him backwards
where he tumbled down the steep stairs.
Just prior to that, perhaps as a reflex, he fired his own gun and that
bullet tore into the right side of the heroic homeowner’s neck, causing a very
serious wound.
Dr. Vonachen soon arrived and George was whisked off
to the hospital where his life was saved.
The police identified the intruder as Edward Areingdale. His wife was brought down from Chicago to
identify the body. She was asked where
she wanted the body shipped for burial.
With a hard stare, she was quoted as saying, “The
County can just keep him.” As for George
Lyon, he received accolades from his many friends and of course the local
newspapers. The folks in Peoria
considered George a local hero and so do I.
Editor’s Note:
Norm is a local author, historian and monthly contributor to News and
Views and welcomes your comments or questions.
norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net
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