CHICAGO, June 22 (UPI) -- The marquee of Chicago's Biograph Theater, the backdrop for the murder of one of America's most infamous criminals, John Dillinger, is being restored.
Public Enemy No. 1 was gunned down by federal agents on July 22, 1934, as he left the theater with two women after watching the movie "Manhattan Melodrama," starring Clark Gable. The feds had been tipped off about Dillinger's whereabouts by a mysterious "lady in red."
Historians tried to unseal the marquee Wednesday, which appeared to be encased in two other, later marquees, the Chicago Tribune reported. The original sign may not be unveiled until next week, said Maureen Flannery Crowe of White Way Sign.
The facade of the movie theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, and the city of Chicago designated it a landmark in 2001.
The marquee is being restored as part of an $11.3 million project by Victory Gardens Theater, which produces original plays, many by local playwrights.
The city relaxed its building codes, so the famed marquee could be extended more than 10 feet out on the sidewalk. The marquee will then look exactly as it did when Dillinger was shot down.
