Woman Who Fought to Save Rialto Dies at 94

The woman behind a campaign to save Joliet’s Rialto Square Theatre from demolition in the 1970s has died, theater officials confirmed.

Dorothy Mavrich, a piano teacher who led efforts to save the theater from being torn down to make way for a parking garage, passed away Tuesday afternoon at age 94.

“Our community has lost a guiding light,” Rialto Square Theatre Foundation President Tricia Simpson said Tuesday night. “Dorothy is part of the fabric of our community and is forever linked with the Rialto Square Theatre because of her unstinting efforts to save it from the wrecking ball nearly 30 years ago.”

Mavrich served as an honorary chairperson on the Rialto’s board of directors, and in recent years was an honored guest at Rialto Foundation events, Simpson said.

“The Rialto Square Theatre Foundation honors special patrons every year with an award named in her honor, but her most significant legacy stands at the corner of Chicago and Van Buren Streets and her story will always be a part of the history of the Rialto,” Simpson said.

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Jim Smith, chairman of the Will County Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority Board of Directors, said Mavrich remained a champion of the theater right up until her death.

“Her passion for the Rialto burned brightly and was never more evident as when she would visit the theatre she is credited with saving,” Smith said in a statement. “Each and every person who walks through the doors of the Rialto Square Theatre has Dorothy to thank for making their entrance possible.

“We will miss you, Dorothy.”

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