Illinois rock museum postpones hall of fame event slated at Joliet’s Rialto Theatre

The Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 annual hall of fame ceremony has been postponed, the latest event pushed back amid an ongoing asbestos issue at the Rialto Square Theatre.

The museum’s fourth annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony was to be held at the Rialto on Oct. 20.

The museum announced in a news release Tuesday that the event will be rescheduled “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

The release did not detail the “unforeseen circumstances.” The Rialto is currently closed by order of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and is awaiting approval from the state agency for a cleanup plan related to a violation found in July during an asbestos abatement project in the basement of the theater.

The Illinois Rock & Roll Museum event will be held at the Rialto on a date yet to be determined, the release said.

“We are in the process of working out a new date for spring 2025,” museum CEO and founder Ron Romero said in the release. “We hope to announce that date in the forthcoming week.”

Reached later, Romano said he could not comment yet on the circumstances that led to the induction ceremony being rescheduled, although he expected to be able to provide more information in the coming days.

Romano said he wanted to make an announcement now, even without a new date for the induction ceremony being yet set, so ticket holders get notice the event will not be Oct. 20, which is less than a month away.

“We’re coming up on the date,” he said. “We didn’t want to wait until closer to the date to announce that we have to reschedule.”

Ticket holders will be able to use the same tickets for the newly scheduled date, Romano said. Refunds also would be provided if necessary, he said.

The Rialto has not set a reopening date for the theater, although management has issued statements saying that they are confident the matter will be resolved and that air tests have not shown hazardous levels of asbestos in the air of the building.

The theater had been closed intentionally for July and August while an asbestos removal project was underway.

That closure was prolonged after IEPA inspectors in late July issued a violation notice after finding three unsealed bags containing materials with asbestos in the theater basement.

Theater management since has been trying to work out a cleanup plan with the state agency. But three plans proposed by the Rialto along with a revision of the third plan have been rejected by the IEPA.

The Rialto has canceled two weddings and postponed two shows scheduled for September.

But the theater continues to book new performances for 2025.

On Tuesday, the Rialto announced that Toast, a tribute band for the 1970s band Bread, has been scheduled for May 2. Tickets for the Toast performance go on sale Friday.