It was 50 years ago this year the Apollo Theater in downtown Peoria closed its doors.

But, thanks to the efforts of volunteers, at least part of the old-time theater is still in use, and playing movies.

Steve Tarter acts as the president of the volunteer board that keeps the downtown landmark running.

“That entitles me to change the sign out front and make the popcorn,” Tarter said, laughing.

He has held the title for three years, but his interest in the theater goes back farther.

Like so many of the people who have kept the small venue alive, he has a passion.

The Apollo, which these days is best known for the Annual Film Noir Festival, was resurrected quite by accident.

“When Tom Leiter bought the building in the ‘80s, he discovered the balcony of the old theater was still intact. It was a storage area when he discovered it,” Tarter said.

“There were no seats. They put in the stage, the seats, the screen to bring it back. They restored the interior.”

After a lot of work, the theater re-opened in 1991.

Bob Brandes was the manager of the theater from its re-birth until his retirement in 2004.

“He was like the Phantom of the Opera,” Tarter said.

“He was always here. I thought he lived in here somewhere.”
In the mid’90s, while working at the Greater Peoria Mass Transit District, Tarter started a Halloween tradition of showing 3-D monster movies for families at the theater.

“It was my first contact with the theater. They had 16 mm projectors then. I was impressed by the place.”

One day in 2002, while talking to Matt Leiter, Tom Leiter’s son, Tarter asked what the future held for the theater.
Play director Andrew Driscoll had just vacated the theater.

“He shrugged,” Tarter said. “That’s when I got involved.”

Tarter said he found himself thrust into a group of volunteers who were very passionate about the revival of the theater.

But, the world the Apollo competes in today is vastly different from that of its beginnings and heyday.

The Apollo opened in 1914. It boasted 900 seats.
It was an everyman’s theater.

“The old timers have told me the heyday for the Apollo was in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Back in those days, people went to the theater two times a week, on average,” Tarter said.

“The Apollo’s niche was it was a basic theater playing the everyday movie, not the blockbusters. It wasn’t the premier theater with 2,000 seats. It kind of got lost in the shuffle when TV came along.”

And, essentially what killed the Apollo in yesteryear is still troubling the theater today.

“It’s been an on-going battle to get people into a small theater that shows movies only occasionally,” Tarter said.

“In a world full of conveniences, when it comes to entertainment, we’re only open at 7 p.m. on Saturday nights. That is it. We’re also battling the opportunity to see so many movies at home. That’s a tough thing to beat.”

He said the theater seats 150 people, 100 very comfortably.

But, these days, a really good night is 60-70 patrons.

“The thing is we don’t have good nights as often as I’d like,” Tarter said.

Tarter said, despite that, the theater has a lot of potential.

“To really do it justice would be a full-time job,” Tarter said.

“The real tragedy of the whole situation is we have lost the whole notion of ‘Let’s go downtown and see what’s going on,’” Tarter said.

He said people might just find they were missing something, Tarter said, just like he did.

“I’m 58. I’m old enough to have grown up with black-and-white TV. I didn’t get to go to that many movies as a kid. As I got older, I felt like I’d missed something,” Tarter said.

“When you look at these old movies, you feel like you are in a flashback to another time. I like exposing people to that.”

So, despite the small crowds, Tarter said he is encouraged and still very passionate about the theater.

“You spend a lot of time chasing an audience, but we have a core group of people who come,” Tarter said.

“It’s nice to have that. The feedback I get from most people who wander in for the first time is, ‘Wow, this place is nice.’ This is a modest little place and tucked away. The challenge is getting people in here to discover it. We’re up to that challenge.”