Jenette Jurczyk, national director of That’s What She Said, said next year’s event, which was scheduled for Feb. 8, will be moved to Parkland College. She said the show is scheduled to return to Virginia on Feb. 28, 2026, “when renovations are complete!”

Park District Executive Director Sarah Sandquist estimates the theater will remain closed from January through March and that renovations will be completed in time for Ebertfest, which is scheduled to take place April 23-26.

She added that they have discussed moving some events to the State Farm Center or the Krannert Center during the closure, similar to how Krannert hosted some events at the Virginia last year when it closed.

“We don’t have any set dates or events for it yet, but both companies are very open to the idea of ​​a partnership,” Sandquist said.

The Park District Board of Directors will vote at its next meeting on whether to approve a proposal to replace and upgrade the theater’s computer control system.

Theater director Steven Bentz said in May that the flight system itself has a long lifespan and only the computer system will be replaced.

“The flying system is the backstage elements that raise, hang and lower objects above the stage,” he said. “Everything from sets to backdrops, lighting fixtures, monitor speakers, curtains, screens and so on.”

Parks staff is recommending that the board accept a $635,990 bid from Decatur-based Bodine Electric. According to a report by Bentz, the only other bidder for the project was Urbana-based Glesco Electric, which submitted a $651,281 bid.

Sandquist said the park district originally budgeted $242,500 for the project in its fiscal year 2025 capital plan. Champaign-based GHR Engineers and Associates later estimated the total project cost would be $750,000.

“When we initially commissioned GHR to propose and they looked at some designs, we realised that the scope of the project was much larger than originally estimated. This was then confirmed when we launched the tender,” she said.

To make up the difference, park district staff asked the Champaign Parks Foundation board to allocate $393,490 from the Virginia Theatre Restoration Fund to the project, and the board approved the expenditure, Bentz said.

“Every ticket sold at the Virginia Theatre is matched by a dollar that goes into the Virginia Theatre Restoration Fund,” Sandquist explained. “And that amount goes to projects like this and other restoration efforts throughout the theatre.”

Bentz wrote in a report that the Virginia was already closed for 11 months in the spring of 2012 for restoration work that included replacing the theater’s historic “pin rail” fly system with a motorized, computer-controlled system.

“Unfortunately, the new motorized system was produced by a division of a company that was later sold, and the product line was discontinued,” he said. “Updates for the software and hardware are no longer available.”

“This trend has resulted in an increasing number of troubling performance problems in the Virginia Theater. Over the past three (3) years, there have been several incidents in which the Virginia’s flight system has been rendered inoperable and required extensive repairs.”