DES MOINES, Iowa– The historic Ingersoll Dinner Theater is projected to make its long awaited return in 2025, according to the owner.

The theater closed over a decade ago, but was an iconic source of entertainment for the Des Moines community since it was built in 1939.

Connor Delaney, the owner and real estate broker of White Oak Realty, purchased the theater in 2022 and made plans to revive it. Since then, he was looking for a new tenant and now, he says he finally found one.

“We are not ready to announce who yet, but the right fit has emerged,” Delaney told WHO 13 News in part of a statement. He went on to say, “It’s taken a village and we’re not yet done. We are done enough to announce that it’s happening.”

Ingersoll Dinner Theater was awarded a $728,818 state tax credit to aid its rehabilitation, according to a Facebook post from White Oak Realty.

“This has been an arduous but fun and exciting process. Historic tax credit projects take considerable time,” said Delaney in his statement to WHO 13 News.

More parking will also be added for people to enjoy the theater when it reopens.

“Very early on we cemented a perpetual parking easement for 40 parking stalls next door, these will never go away. Multiple neighboring property owners have been gracious enough to allow future patrons to use their parking after hours. We will have a minimum of 80 and likely north of 100 parking stalls for your use. With an occupancy of 225 or so and with an average of 2-3 patrons per vehicle we have enough to be comfortable I think,” Delaney said in his statement to WHO 13 News.

His team of 20 people worked for over two years to get to this point. Their plan is to transform the theater to host live performances and events, like it once did on Ingersoll Avenue years ago.

Delaney is projecting the grand opening to take place on November 1st, but that may be subject to change depending on the building process.

The announcement is exciting news for many Des Moines residents, like Cat Bean who grew up going to the theater with her parents.

“It’s been so long since it’s closed, but it’s been so hard to see it sitting there empty for so long… The company, I think, does really great work, so I’m very excited,” she said.

Future announcements regarding the revitalization of the Ingersoll Dinner Theater can be found on their website or on their Instagram.