EDWARDSVILLE — It has been a century since the Wildey Theater opened and a quarter-century since it closed, but after numerous false starts, it looks as if the fixture on Main Street since 1909 could reopen next year under city auspices.

The City Council recently decided to renovate the structure and reopen it, possibly by late next year.

City officials want to see the Wildey return to its status as a cultural center for the community, said Alderman Rich Walker.

President William Howard Taft was in the White House when the Wildey opened to the public on April 12, 1909, with a live presentation of a play called "Girl at the Helm." A reviewer called the venue "the largest, roomiest and most convenient theater in this part of Illinois."

Built at a cost of $30,000 by a group of local investors, the three-story building served as an Odd Fellows lodge, opera house and community center, hosting vaudeville shows, school plays and dance recitals. The lavishly decorated auditorium seated 1,150.

Motion pictures soon became a part of the mix, and the Wildey is said to have hosted appearances by major stars who included W.C. Fields, Al Jolson and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The theater underwent a major remodeling in 1937, with the original Victorian decor replaced by a new art deco theme.

With changes in the movie business that sustained it, the Wildey closed on March 8, 1984. Its last film was "The Big Chill."

In the years since, numerous people and organizations, public and private, have searched for ways to bring the theater back to life.

Private owners staged a few music shows and made minor renovations. The Madison County Arts Council tried — but ultimately gave up on — a plan to make the Wildey an arts center.

In 1999, with the help of a $300,000 state grant, the city bought the building for $250,000 and made needed roof repairs.

City officials tried to interest private developers in renovating the theater and several took a close look at it but always ran into the same hurdle.

"They needed to make money," said Walker, who has chaired the City Council's Wildey Development Committee for 10 years.

He said prospective developers could not figure out a way to spend the money needed for renovation and be confident of operating the theater at a profit. The city, he said, doesn't need a profit; breaking even would be just fine.

The money the city has previously spent on the Wildey all came from grants and donations, and Walker said the city does not propose to spend any property tax dollars on the renovation.

Costs could be as much as $3 million. Walker said the city has about $500,000 available in a fund maintained for cultural and recreational projects. That money comes from an entertainment tax the city collects on movie tickets and video rentals. Tax increment financing funds and community donations could help cover the difference.

City officials see the project as an enhancement to the parks and recreation program. Anticipated uses include live musical and theatrical performances, movies and rentals to local organizations, businesses, schools and churches for their programs.

Walker said there is no intent for the Wildey to compete with the area's larger movie houses. He said likely offerings will include vintage movies, art films, documentaries and children's and family classics.

The city isn't planning a restoration of the theater but rather a renovation that takes design cues from the past.

The plan has two facets — a complete renovation of the theater and a partial renovation of commercial space in the building. The city would operate the theater and lease the commercial space to private tenants. Revenue from leases and rentals, and nominal admission fees to theater events, are expected to offset operating costs.

The renovation will include new plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems, a new stage floor, new seats, repairs to the century-old wood supports under the floor of the auditorium and a new elevator expected to cost $100,000.

Walker said community interest in the Wildey has remained high. A ceremonial relighting of the theater's restored marquee in 2005 attracted a huge crowd, and several hundred people came to a showing of "The Wizard of Oz" projected on an exterior wall of the theater earlier this year.

"People want their children to experience the Wildey," Walker said.