As decades passed, the theatre became more focused on film presentations and remained so throughout the 1940s, '50s and '60s. By the 1970s the theatre was in disrepair, and its plaster walls were crumbling. The owner handed the theatre over to the city of DeKalb. In 1978 a group of citizens banded together to restore and save the Egyptian. When the Egyptian was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the group, Preservation of the Egyptian Theatre (PET), qualified for a $2.3 million grant from the state of Illinois. This money allowed the restoration of the theatre to begin. It was estimated at that time that $3.5 million was needed to completely restore the theatre. Due to the shortfall, there were many projects that had to be cut, including adding air conditioning which the building never had, and still does not have.