Wichita ? When a group of investors bought the historic Orpheum Theatre, supporters thought it would take a few years and from $2 million to $3 million to restore it to its former glory.

That was in 1984. And while $2.8 million worth of restoration projects have turned the Orpheum into a viable venue since then, much remains to be done – at an estimated price tag of $7 million to $9 million.

“We’re really at the point where we have to re-do the inside of the auditorium,” said Delmar Klocke, chairman of the restoration effort. “That takes not a few hundred thousand dollars, that takes millions. And we have to have that money in hand.”

And it will also mean closing the theater, which will present or rent space for 80 concerts, stage shows and other events this year and has drawn almost 100,000 patrons over the past three years.

Mary Eves, president of the nonprofit Orpheum Theatre Performing Arts Center Ltd., said income from those events covers about 90 percent of operating costs.

But backers of the restoration concede that if it is to be done right, it will have to be done soon.

“My era might be referred to as saving the Orpheum,” said Marge Setter, a former president of the nonprofit. “Now it’s time for restoration. The costs go up every day we don’t do it.”

The Orpheum opened in 1922 as a vaudeville house, then became a movie theater. By the time it closed in 1974, it was an adult film venue – and its structure had deteriorated badly.

A group of investors bought it in 1984, but a foreclosure lawsuit kept the board from taking over until 1992. The board chose to open the theater for events and do the renovation work piecemeal, rather than keep it closed until the job was done.

“The overall plan was to get the theater open to generate income and interest in the theater,” Setter said.

Fund-raisers and grants – including $1 million from the city – have paid for the restoration costs so far.

The restoration of the lobby and concession area, expected to cost $350,000, is next on the list. After that, the interior renovation – expected to take two to three years – will have to be done.

“I think we’ve proven ourselves in a way that wasn’t apparent 20 years ago,” said Wichita lawyer Eric Engstrom, secretary of the nonprofit’s board. “But it’s been a long process, no doubt about it.

“If we had one or two angels with a million or two to throw in, that would be great.”