Waynesboro: Alliance moving ahead with Wayne Theatre project

Story by Chris Graham
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The Wayne Theatre Alliance is moving forward with plans to begin the restoration of the 82-year-old downtown theatre. Work on the project will begin within days, Alliance executive director Clair Myers reported in an e-mail to current and past board members that was sent out this morning.

The front half of the parking lot at the Wayne will be fenced in to secure a staging area in the coming days. Interior preparation work will begin after that is done, and following the Virginia Fall Foliage Festival Art Show in October, a covered pedestrian walkway will be erected around the front of the theatre to allow work to begin on the front of the building. The focus of that effort will be to return the central facade to its 1926 configuration with new doors, restored stain-glass windows, lanterns and urns.
The new marquee that will be in place will be electronic and available for public notices.

The 1949 addition to the theatre will also be a focal point of work in the next three to four months, Myers said.