If the Aurora City Council on Tuesday approves the deal that will benefit a nearby school district, bulldozers may soon raze the outdoor screen at Montgomery Road and Hill Avenue.

"I'm really disappointed," said frequent patron Cheryl Kent of Bolingbrook. "It was close to home, and it was reasonably priced for a family of four to go to and see two movies."

Kent visited a Web site devoted to saving the theater, www.hilitedrivein.com , where supporters like Kathy L. would post comments lamenting the loss of a slice of Americana.

"There's no price tag on nostalgia, please save the drive-in from developers," she wrote.

But on Thursday, Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner, East Aurora School District 131 Superintendent Jerome Roberts and Bigelow Homes President Jamie Bigelow announced an agreement that leaves no room for the drive-in.

As proposed, Bigelow will donate 8.3 acres to the School District, if the City Council votes against a previous proposal to take over operations of the Hi-Lite.

The developer plans to build 240 new homes on land surrounding the theater, and initially sought to build stores on the 8.3 acres. The city says the land is valued at $1.3 million,.

"This administration and the City Council has been on the side of education all along, and, clearly, this donation indicates that Bigelow is on the side of education," Weisner said.

Though the school district has no immediate plans for the land, Roberts said he was very happy to receive it. Of the city's three school districts, East Aurora takes in the least amount per year from property taxes and has the lowest equalized assessed value within its borders.

"I can't say enough what this will do for the coffers of the district and how much we will benefit from this," he said.

Though the possibility of a new middle school has been discussed for that parcel, the district also could sell the land – considering its location and its commercial zoning – and reap the profits.

The catch, for fans of the Hi-Lite 30, is that the school donation is only possible if the council votes not to accept the land the drive-in sits on.

'Creative solution'

As a provision of the annexation agreement approved last year, Bigelow offered the Hi-Lite land to the city in lieu of a required payment to the Fox Valley Park District. However, the agreement stipulates that the theater must continue to operate as a drive-in. If it doesn't, the land reverts to Bigelow Homes, and they must then pay the Park District $300,000.

The council can vote Tuesday to refuse the Hi-Lite land. If that happens, Bigelow has said that the drive-in will be demolished to make room for further development. Only under that arrangement will the 8.3 acres off of Montgomery Road be made available to the school district. If the drive-in is preserved, that area will be a detention pond, and the district will get nothing above the property taxes it already receives.

"It's clearly contingent on the decision of the City Council," Weisner said.

Weisner was the leading force behind this new arrangement. His office approached Bigelow and the school district, and according to his chief of staff, Bob Vaughan, the deal was hammered out in the last few days.

"The mayor had come to us and asked us to come up with a creative solution, one that would help the school district out," Bigelow said. "We have always been cooperative with the school district."

Decision Tuesday

An issue for the mayor's office has been the amount of money that they say it would take to bring the drive-in up to city code. City estimates put the repair and upkeep of the outdoor theater at nearly $830,000. Alderman Stephanie Kifowit, 3rd Ward, has been leading the charge to save the theater, which is in her ward. After hearing of the new arrangement, she said that her crusade has never been about the drive-in but about representing her constituents – whom she believes are mostly in favor of keeping the Hi-Lite 30.

"If the residents start calling me up now and saying that they want this (donation) instead of the drive-in, then I'll respect that," she said. "If they change their position, then I will change mine."

As they have done twice before, supporters of the drive-in have a rally planned for 5 p.m. outside City Hall. How this new arrangement will affect the vote is unclear, and Weisner refuses to handicap it.

"I hope that the City Council will vote for education when they decide the matter," he said.

Originally published online here: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/top/6_1_NA09_DRIVEIN_S1.htm