PRINCETON, WV (WOAY) – More than 100 years ago, the Royal Theater opened its doors in Downtown Princeton.
Over the decades, the theater has changed its looks and purpose. And now, the Princeton Renaissance Theater as it’s now called is undergoing some extreme renovations.
According to Carin Prescott, the new Development Director with Community Connections in charge of the project, they’ve decided that now is a better time than ever to restart the renovations.
“We are cleaning out all the junk and getting ready for the renovations to start again,” Prescott said. “With great weather coming up and all the revitalization taking place downtown, this is a really great time to make things happen and finish everything we started.”
The Renaissance Theater was purchased by local nonprofit Community Connections back in 2013, with the goal of bringing the theater back to life.
Greg Puckett, the Executive Director of Community Connections, says that over the years they’ve been slowly renovating the interior and ran into some roadblocks.
“When we looked at this in 2013, we said we needed one thing to draw everybody down,” Puckett said. “And over time it got delayed and everything else built up around it.”
Mercer Street has seen great strides in development over the past decade, and they want the theater to be the culmination of that effort.
“It’s gonna be the spark that really gives that last piece of what we’ve been doing in the Grassroots District for the last eight years.
“This is gonna be a great theater for everybody,” Prescott added. “Our goal is to make this space something that the entire community can enjoy.”
The goal is to open the theater to the public before the year’s end. It’s main draw will be a place to watch movies and local performances. The theater will also host a museum dedicated to Bob Denver.
As renovations continue, Community Connections will be looking for volunteers to help with the effort. You can visit www.prtheater.org for more details.
