“Our hope is that this will be one of the first steps to serve as a catalyst for also revitalizing and restoring the corridor,” Stell said. If more people visit Apollo’s 2000, it could attract customers to the stores and restaurants nearby, she said. Stell said she believes a landmark designation could also act as a boost for surrounding businesses on Cermak Road. “Frankly, we’re just not the Willis Tower or in the middle of the Loop, generating that type of money,” said Evelyn Stell, one of the couple’s three daughters. The family hopes a landmark designation would make them eligible for certain city money - like Adopt A Landmark - or draw in nonprofits or private donors who may be interested in funding the theater’s preservation. Everything that has come in is right here,” he said pointing to the historic theater around him. “For 35 years - it’s been a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice. But when you’re younger, you just go for the opportunities that you feel are there.” Nowadays, I wouldn’t go for something like this - it’s too risky. Because she has been extremely supportive, every wild dream that I’ve ever had. “If we’ve had relative success or whatever, it’s because it’s been a partnership, definitely. “I can’t really give enough credit,” Javier Galindo said. He and his wife were in their 20s at the time, and he was less focused on financial security and more on following his dream. Thinking back on his move to buy the theater, Javier Galindo said he’s not sure he would make the same decision now. The space is primarily rented out for events like quinceañeras and weddings, and sometimes hosts musicians and singers. Galindo and his wife ripped out the slanted floor of movie-theater chairs and designed a multi-tiered floor so the audience could see the improved stage they built from any seat, Javier Galindo said. Javier Galindo was a musician and operator of a now-closed Little Village dance hall when he got the opportunity to buy the Apollo’s 2000. The Galindos, who have run the theater since 1988, hope a landmark designation will help preserve the building for generations to come and spark change in the surrounding business corridor. Steps in the landmarking process include a report from the Department of Planning and Development, consulting with the building owner, a public hearing and a final vote with the commission, before moving to the City Council’s Committee on Zoning and then the full City Council. If the landmarks commission lends its initial support, it would kick off a lengthy series of approvals, according to the commission. ![]() The city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks will decide Thursday whether or not to give a preliminary landmark recommendation to the theater, which has been featured in the annual Open House Chicago, organized by the Chicago Architecture Center to showcase some of the city’s iconic places. ![]()
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