Ionic columns frame the building as though standing memorial to a distinguished past. Weeds grow up through the metal grating out front, and seat cushions peer over the edge of dumpsters.
But the Christmas lights strung across the Garden theater's entrance look as though they might at any moment shine in celebration of a holiday.
And though there is no guarantee that it will be open in time for Christmas, the extensive $600,000 renovations to the Garden theater — which the University announced Aug. 3 — will most likely be completed by the beginning of the new year, said Director of Community and State Affairs Pam Hersh.
The University, which bought the theater in 1996, decided to launch the renovations after considering the theater's importance to students and the community, said Vice President for Public Affairs Bob Durkee '69.
"It's very important to the community and the University community," said Hersh, who helped spearhead the project. "It's very popular and important to the life of both the town and gown communities."
To preserve the much-loved landmark and retain its economic viability, the University is exclusively funding the project to refurbish the theater's interior — including the bathrooms, projection equipment and seats — and the exterior, making repairs on the structure of the building.
Student affection for the historical theater prompted the University to consider renovations, Hersh said.
At the beginning of this year, Hersh asked newly elected USG campus and community affairs chair David Tukey '02 if students would be interested in renovations — a question that led Tukey to distribute a campus-wide survey.
"The University needed proof that students would be interested in going to the Garden theater if it were renovated," Tukey said. "They said that they wouldn't go now, but they would if it were in better condition."
Others in the Princeton community also have applauded the University's decision to renovate the building.
"I think it's absolutely wonderful that the University has made this commitment," Borough Mayor Marvin Reed said. "The town people and gown people have always loved going to the theater, but in the last few years it has gotten a little disheveled."
Tina Clement, who moved to Princeton 18 years ago, said, "We feel very strongly that the University should be responsible and keep it as a landmark of the town."
Emphasizing the theater's decaying condition, Jim Firestone, who has lived in Princeton all his life, said the renovations are long overdue. "The town gave me a citation to paint my building when it wasn't in nearly as bad condition as the Garden theater."
In supporting the renovations, however, Princeton residents emphasized the importance of keeping the authentic character of the building intact. To this end, the exterior of the theater will be a restored version of its original facade, in accordance with historic regulations.
In a survey last year, residents gave high ratings to keeping a movie theater in the center of town, according to Reed. "But they didn't really like the idea of it becoming too overbuilt and glitsy," he added.
But while residents remain committed to preserving the theater, there is debate over whether, in Princeton as a whole, the small town feel of a decade ago has begun to fade into mere nostalgia.
"[The chain stores] are taking up spaces so people who have needs in the town have to go to the highway instead," Firestone said. "They're more like mall stores, not the small shops that they used to be."
Another Princeton resident, Ann McGoldrick, who has lived in her house on Vandeventer Avenue for 24 years, enjoys the historic face of Princeton, but views modern changes to it as inevitable.
"I live in an old house in the middle of downtown Princeton, so I expect the change . . . will be modest and fitting," McGoldrick said. "But I think it would be a mistake to think that things will stay the same as they are."
Despite conflict over the contrast between preserving the theater and developing the rest of the town, Louise Stephens — president of Theater Management Corporation, which runs the Garden — anticipates no competition between theater venues.
The corporation, which also will help bring movies to the Frist Campus Center, will continue to show first-run movies, while Frist will aim to show movies in the window between their release and the time they come out on video, Stephens said.
"I'm going to try to work with Louise as much as possible," said Jon Ewalt '02, president of the University Film Organization — the group in charge of showing movies at Frist. "The key is we're trying to get people in the seats and keep them happy," he said, adding that his group would try to avoid screening movies the Garden has already shown.
After renovations are completed, the Garden will run on the schedule it maintained before closing, but Stephens added that her company may add a third, earlier show on Thursday and Friday.
"The student discount will remain the same, but I'm not sure about the price," she said. "It hasn't been raised in many years."
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