The board, staff and artists of Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater held an official groundbreaking celebration Dec. 14 for the new Victory Gardens at the Biograph Theater. Renovations have begun to the nationally landmarked Biograph movie house, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, which will reopen in the 2005/’06 season as a new, $9 million state-of-the-art facility. Participants at the groundbreaking included (from left) Victory Gardens Managing Director Marcelle McVay, former Victory Gardens Board President James Grusecki, current Victory Gardens Board President John Palmer, Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble member Claudia Allen, Illinois State Sen. John Cullerton, Illinois Film Office Managing Director Brenda Sexton, 43rd Ward Ald. Vi Daley, Illinois State Rep. John Fritchey, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg, Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek, and Victory Gardens Director of Institutional Advancement Robert Alpaugh. See www.victorygardens.org.