Visitors to downtown may once again see the New Moon's name in lights.
INVin, the not-for-profit organization that now owns the theater at the corner of Sixth and Main streets, has been working to raise the money needed to fix the place up, all in the hope of attracting a new eatery to Vincennes and rejuvenating one of the city's most visible and well-traveled intersections.
As crews with Sure Clean and Republic Services came and went from the building, cleaning, making repairs and removing trash, INVin executive director Ellen Harper said many passers-by would stop to wonder whether the original, 1939 New Moon marquee still existed beneath various coats of pain and sections of plywood tacked on over the years,
So INVin hired crews with Maintenance Services to find out. And what hey discovered is pretty exciting.
“The more we looked at the marquee itself, the more we found ourselves hoping the original sign was behind there,” Harper said. “And lo and behold, there it was!
“I came back from lunch Thursday — and I've been coming that way just to see how things were going — and when I pulled up to the light, I thought, 'Oh my gosh! There it is!'”
Harper said downtown was abuzz with excitement Thursday and Friday as business owners and patrons watched as the original marquee was uncovered.
Many of its bulbs are missing, but the sign, considering it's been hidden for 30-some years, is in excellent condition, Harper said.
INVin has directed Maintenance Services to continue working on the sign, and all of its bulbs will eventually be replaced with more efficient, modern LED lights.
An access door will be added to the underside of the marquee to allow for easier maintenance. The wiring will be updated, but soon, Harper hopes, the marquee will light up Main Street once again.
“People were standing in the middle of the street,” Harper said. “They were taking pictures and everybody was just so exited to see that that iconic piece was still there.
“And once we get it done — once we get it all lit up again — that will go a long way toward helping us market that building,” she said. “That marquee will be a huge piece for anybody looking to purchase that property.”
Local historian Norbert Brown said he has several old black and white photos that show the New Moon sign shining down on the corner. He remembers seeing it himself before it was covered up by Kerasotes Theaters sometime on the 1980s years ago.
“And it's so nice to see it again,” Brown said. “It really is neat.”
The New Moon was a single screen, first-run movie house when first built in 1939, replacing the old Moon Theater at Fifth and Main streets, which was torn down to make way for parking for the Gardner-Brockman Funeral Home.
Brown said the New Moon was builder Theodore Charles' attempt at competing with Fort Sackville, which was built a year earlier in 1938 a couple of blocks east on main Street.
The building also, Brown said, housed a liquor store and a leather shop in its early years.
The New Moon showed popular movies of the time until it was purchased by Kerasotes Theaters and renovated into three cinemas instead of the original one. It was rechristened as Showplace 3.
It closed in 2003 and was later purchased by Intersect Church in 2007.
A couple of local coal miners bought it in 2011 with plans of turning it into a laser tag facility, but it was put back on the market about a year later.
Harper said INVin will likely strike an deal with any possible buyer to keep not only the marquee but, if possible, incorporate “New Moon” into the name as well.
“The history of that corner will draw even more interest,” Harper said. “Especially from local and regional people who remember going there to a show.
“We believe it's an iconic piece, one that will help to stabilize Main Street once again.”