Marquee makes old theater in Harlem look new again

Harlem's Columbia Theatre is beginning to look more like its former self with a newly installed marquee duplicating the original.

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The marquee was delivered in three large pieces from Atlanta on Tuesday and installed last week.

When ongoing exterior renovations are complete, city and Harlem Foundation officials hope the building will look much like it did during its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s.

"I think they are going to go with history," said foundation chair Ann Blalock, adding that the original marquee was duplicated with what was believed to have been pink and yellow neon lights.

The foundation purchased the theater in January 2005 with the intention of restoring it to become an arts center.

The theater, owned and run by Bill and Nan Griffin, showed movies in the 1950s and 1960s. It closed in the mid-1960s when the popularity of television and competition from new theaters in the Augusta area proved too much for business.

The building has housed many other businesses, but it sat vacant for many years before the foundation bought it.

Project architect Ben Carter recommended a larger stage capable of holding two simultaneous productions, and re-installing the slanted floor and theater seating, said Harlem City Manager Jean Dove.

It also will include space for teaching drama and other visual arts.

The first major renovation project, other than cleaning out the building, is improving the facade.

"We feel it is letting people know that something is going to happen there," Blalock said.

In addition to duplicating the original marquee, the $69,500 project, paid for by a $40,000 state grant and foundation funds, includes new doors and windows and exterior paint.

The exterior renovations are expected to conclude this month. City officials are planning for a tentative mid-October lighting and dedication ceremony.

"It'll be at night where you can see those lights," Dove said.