Rialto Continues To Work With IEPA To Ensure Safe Reopening Of The Rialto Building

On Wednesday, September 11th,  the Illinois Attorney General, at the request of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), filed a complaint against the Will County Metropolitan Exhibition and Auditorium (“Rialto”). Also named as defendants in the  complaint were R. Berti & Son Contractor Inc. and Universal Asbestos Removal, Inc. 

The complaint is a follow-up to a notification given to the Rialto on July 25, 2024. At that time, the IEPA notified the Rialto that Universal, which was contracted to remove asbestos in the basement of the Rialto, had violated certain asbestos removal regulations. Since that notification, the Rialto has been working with the IEPA to arrive at a plan to  ensures the elimination of any health concerns raised by the asbestos violation. 

The only violations identified by the IEPA are ones which occurred in the basement of the Rialto and those violations were limited to three bags believed to contain asbestos and containment of asbestos in those bags. While the complaint  mentions other areas of the Rialto building where asbestos is located, those areas do not present a health concern and are  not areas where the IEPA has alleged a violation. In older buildings such as the Rialto, the safe method of dealing with  asbestos used in a building’s construction is to leave the asbestos where it is located. For the work being done in the  basement of the Rialto, asbestos was being removed by Universal which is a State of Illinois certified asbestos removal  company. The asbestos removal was being done as part of an ongoing HVAC renovation and replacement project.  

Since being notified of the asbestos violations, the Rialto has taken numerous safety steps including testing the air in the  theater and other areas of the building. The majority of those tests detected no asbestos. Only two tests each detected one strand of asbestos. By comparison, Illinois regulations set clearance testing for public schools to be less than 70 strands.  In other words, if there had been 69 times the number of strands found, the tests would have shown the air was safe for  public schools.  

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It is the Rialto’s understanding that the complaint was filed as a routine matter so that an agreed order, which incorporates the terms of an IEPA approved cleanup plan, can be entered in the case and enforced by the Court. The Rialto has  provided such a plan to the IEPA and is awaiting approval of such plan. From the initial notification of the asbestos  violation, the Rialto has made it clear that it desires to do what is necessary and required for the health and safety of those  that come to the Rialto.  

The Rialto is committed to quickly resolving this matter and returning to full operations, confident that our efforts to  ensure compliance will further solidify the Rialto Square Theatre as a safe and welcoming space for all. And, contrary to  the speculation of one commentator, the Rialto’s current 98-year run is expected to extend well into the future.  

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