It’s been nearly 50 years since Wilmington’s Queen Theater was a functioning performance house. A movement is afoot, however, to bring the city landmark back to life. You’re invited to help.

The Light Up the Queen Foundation is a 501C3 non-profit charged with accumulating enough financial support to make the Queen, located at the corner of Fifth and Market streets in downtown Wilmington, operational as a mecca for high-quality music, education, workforce development, and mentoring. Estimated costs to refurbish the five-story, 45,000-square-foot building are approximately $24 million. While that sounds like a staggering number, especially in these economic times, more than $18 million has been raised through grants, public and private contributions, as well as historic tax credits, according to Bill Taylor, executive director of the Light Up the Queen Foundation.

Taylor, a Wilmington native, spent time in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina running the Tipitina’s Foundation (named after the nightclub), which raised money for children’s musical instruments. He sees what Tipitina’s did for the New Orleans community as something that could happen here. “In a lot of ways, they’re similar,” he says. “Tipitina’s nurtured the community. Having music and the arts as the bedrock for these projects is critical. It really allows neighborhoods to transform.”

The official fundraising campaign will kick off on Thursday, Jan. 22 with the first in a series of Light Up the Queen parties to be held on the second-floor of the historic Crosby Hill building at 605 Market St. Nationally known singer-songwriter Steve Forbert (pictured at bottom right) will be the special musical guest. Food and drink will be available, as will plenty of information about the Light Up the Queen campaign.

One of the enticing nuggets of information is the prospect of Philadelphia’s World Café Live coming to Wilmington should the Queen be revitalized. In addition, WXPN, the renowned public radio station that currently shares a building with World Café Live, has plans to occupy two studios on the upper floors of the Queen.

“If the funding can be put in place to build the [Queen] plan as developed with World Café Live, we are very excited about having a World Café Live at the Queen,” says Hal Real, World Café Live’s president and founder.

“Having music and the arts as the bedrock for this project is critical to the community. It really allows neighborhoods to transform.” — Bill Taylor

The Light Up the Queen parties are being co-presented by WXPN (88.5FM) and Out & About. Less than 200 tickets will be sold at just $15 per person, so act quickly. 

The series will continue with parties scheduled for Feb. 19 (with Sharon Little performing) and March 19.