Front and center

Arts lovers young and old, city officials present and past, and even one senator turned out Friday night for the Wayne Theatre façade unveiling and a special outdoor performance of the River City Radio Hour.

A standing-room crowd of more than 200 people gathered mostly in lawn chairs on a closed-off stretch of West Main Street in front of the theater, where just minutes before the marquee’s curtain dropped, a rainbow appeared in the sky.

“There may be some more clouds to come ... but I believe the Wayne is that rainbow,” YMCA Executive Director Jeff Fife told the crowd.

Fife was just one of a handful of speakers to tap into the fortuitous weather display while forecasting the theater’s role in Waynesboro’s future downtown.

“The Wayne Theatre project is about more than a building,” City Manager Mike Hamp said, talking of how the theater’s “renewal” will enhance the city’s architectural landscape and community identity.

“I crested the hill and I’m in awe,” Councilwoman Nancy Dowdy said, surveying the crowd.

A pale sheet masked the theater’s marquee until shortly after 7 p.m., when Wayne Theater Alliance Vice Chair Mason Hulen promised bedazzlement and launched a countdown to its unveiling. Despite a brief snag, a black marquee with “WAYNE” in white, an electronic ticker below and rows of light bulbs hanging beneath was revealed.

“I think it’ll be a spark for the block if not the whole downtown,” Hulen said later.

As the River City Radio Hour performance began, even its members got behind the theater project, piecing together a “Build the Wayne” ditty set to the tune of “Jingle Bells.”

The unveiling of the new façade marked the completion of the first phase of an $8 million project. A year of work remains and $1.4 million still is needed to finish refurbishing its historic edifice.

For many in attendance, the completion date cannot come soon enough — even for a relative youngster in the crowd, David Reid, 23, who remembers seeing “Lion King” at the theater.

That was 1994.

“I’m glad they’re reopening it,” said Reid, describing a typical Friday night in town as “driving around.”

“I plan to be here to see stuff when it opens,” he said.