Course Reversed On Theater Opening: 'I'm Literally Beside Myself'

McHENRY — The owner of the McHenry Outdoor Theater says he's "literally beside" himself after being told Thursday he cannot reopen the theater as planned on May 1 even though he poured thousands of dollars into setting up safety measures with the guidance of state officials.

Scott Dehn, the theater's owner, made the announcement in a Facebook post Thursday. Dehn said he had received the green light in recent weeks to reopen the outdoor theater, at 1510 N. Chapel Hill Road.

• Illinois Coronavirus Update April 23: 36,934 Cases; 1,688 Deaths

The move to prep the theater came after Dehn said he heard back from "three individuals" with the state who worked with him to implement plans to reopen safely for the summer season amid concerns over slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.

"Eventually we got to a point where I was told that they had nothing left to add and wished me good luck for our season. This is when I went public about opening May 1st," Dehn said.

Having received their approval to open, Dehn said, he booked "stay-in-car" graduations, conducted media interviews promoting the opening, spent "thousands of dollars" to follow health and safety guidelines and "wasted" his and his employees' time getting ready.

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On Thursday, the same day Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the extension of a stay-at-home order in Illinois, Dehn said he received a different email from the state.

"Now they are saying that I cannot open because we are not an essential business. There was no name attached to this email — it was just a standard email from the department," Dehn said in his Facebook post.

Dehn said he responded to the email, outlining all the health and safety precautions he'd enacted, provided the names of the individuals who'd given him the go-ahead to open and also provided links to websites for other drive-theaters that are either open or will be opening soon. He said he had not heard a response as of the Facebook posting.

"I am literally beside myself," Dehn wrote. His full letter can be found in the McHenry Outdoor Theater Facebook post below.

Illinois restricted mass gatherings March 13 and closed nonessential businesses March 16. Schools held classes for the last time March 17, and a statewide stay-at-home order took effect March 21. That stay-at-home order is being extended to May 30.