Photo courtesy CAROL MOORE This was how the Ready interior appeared in August with a large movable screen frame that extends 40 feet in the air and some cleaning and painting restoring some opulence.

Are you Ready for a downtown venue for movies and live entertainment?

“The Ready is not ready,” said Carol Moore, president of Ready Theatre Inc., about the flurry of summer activity at the dormant 1920s movie house.

“There is no schedule for opening the Ready. While I truly appreciate the overwhelming interest and the Niles community support for the Ready since I reopened it in 1983, I am unwilling to now speculate as to when it will open again,” Moore said.

“When the Ready was remodeled in 1983, those renovations were made to make it easy to reopen the Ready as one large auditorium,” Moore said. “My goal is to open the Ready as a venue for movies and live entertainment. I want to emphasize how the support of the people of Niles has motivated me. I feel future patrons will appreciate the benefits of the much lower costs that are resulting from going slowly.”

The phase covered by the June 20 building permit posted on the front of the building is renovation of the main level, including new restrooms, lounge and concession area. The contractor is Timothy Flynn of I-F Design, Benton Harbor.

There is a 25-foot strip of property between the theater and the Four Flags Hotel building that will be partially filled by restrooms soon to be constructed.

The Ready seated more than 1,000 before its subdivision into four screens.

Paramount Pictures operated the Ready in the 1940s through a subsidiary, Butterfield Michigan Theatres Inc.

The Ready will complement Moore’s Wonderland Cinema, where weekend showings typically sell out. The six-screen theater, with spaces seating 100 to 299 patrons, moved into the renovated Wonderland Discount Store on North Front Street at the end of 2004.