Restoring local history has always been a lifelong passion for DeKalb’s Alex Nerad.

Originally from Iowa City, Iowa, Nerad is the executive director at the Egyptian Theatre, 135 N. Second St. Nerad is an NIU alumnus and takes pride in the renovation of the Egyptian Theatre.

Nerad’s interest with the preservation of history began while he was in high school.

“I did kind of a restoration work with a historic country church outside of Iowa City,” Nerad said. “It was kind of a perfect combination of my interest of the theater side of things and the interest of historic buildings, and it all kind of merged together here and it was a perfect fit.”

As a theater student at NIU, Nerad began volunteering at the Egyptian Theatre.

“I was in the theater program there [at NIU],” Nerad said. “Going to school is how I started getting involved here at the theater.”

Nerad became the executive director at the Egyptian Theatre in 2006 when the previous director stepped down.

“I was excited to take it on; at the time I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into, but here I am years later and we are continuing to grow onwards and upwards,” Nerad said.

Over the years, Nerad has been involved with several different theaters.

“I have worked extensively with a lot of the high schools throughout the Northern Illinois area while I was in school and after being in school,” Nerad said. “I also had…a summer internship at Duke University in North Carolina with the American Dance Festival.”

The Egyptian Theatre is not the only thing Nerad sets out to preserve.

“The preservation of not just a building, but of all the memories, stories and experiences that have taken place here,” Nerad said. “It’s just amazing the hundreds of thousands of people that have been through these doors over the years, and all of the stories that are out there.”

Aside from all of the events that take place at the theater every year, Nerad’s favorite moments come from when he gets to hear about the experiences of past patrons.

“It’s always fascinating and interesting to hear all the different stories from people,” Nerad said. “We’ve heard from people [who] as a kid used to sneak in the back doors into movies.”

The Egyptian Theatre hosts events from 25 different community groups, and it hosts around 125 different events that bring in more than 30,000 patrons every year, according to Nerad. Even with those numbers, Nerad still wants the theater to grow.

“We hope to bring even more national touring acts to kind of compliment all of the community events that take place,” Nerad said. “I think there’s a lot of desire from the community and from the student population to have more entertainment options here in DeKalb.”

Nerad has also been on stage, and performing on stage is what would spark his interest to work behind the scenes.

“In elementary school I was involved with a theater group,” Nerad said. “I was involved with about a dozen or so shows, and very quickly I realized my passion was more behind the scenes.”

While working, Nerad does not always have the opportunity to enjoy the productions. When Nerad isn’t at work, he enjoys spending his time at other venues watching shows.

“When we have events here, rarely do I get to actually sit back and enjoy whatever performance or event is taking place here,” Nerad said. “I have to go to other venues, and other theaters to see shows and to actually be able to enjoy watching them and not have to worry about what’s all going on behind the scenes.”

Nerad doesn’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.

“There’s some big goals out there that I’d really like to see accomplished before I ever thought about moving onto any other thing,” Nerad said.