The Princeton Renaissance Theater project has been given a huge shot in the arm.

“It’s a great step forward,” County Commissioner Greg Puckett, who has spearheaded the theater project, said of the $729,000 from the federal omnibus bill.

Puckett said the money will allow the project to move forward, with an HVAC system and electrical wiring next on the agenda.

A lot of work on what was once the LaVon Theater on Mercer Street has already been done, including gutting the building, framing up the rooms, installing a new roof, placing a new marquee and redoing the front entrance.

“We are looking for matching dollars,” Puckett said, reaching out to other sources to make sure enough money will be available to finish the project.

The federal money won’t come right away, he said, because it is a process, but the fact it is coming is what counts and provides leverage for other funding.

Once the “nuts and bolts” work is finished with the HVAC, wiring and plumbing, Sheetrocking can start.

Puckett said the non-profit theater project was at a virtual standstill during the pandemic.

“This money will open up new opportunities for additional leverage,” he said.

In the next few months, final touches will also be put on a marketing plan, he added, to showcase the theater and promote it for more donations.

The theater will have the main seating area (auditorium) where the original movie viewing area was, with capacity at 260.

Puckett said movies will be shown again, some first-run, as well as theme and classic films.

“For example, we may show all of the John Hughes movies,” he said of such films as “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

“The theater will be predominantly cinematic arts,” he said, with an option for smaller scale plays and performances since the stage area is limited in space.

It will also be available for special events.

Upstairs in the front of the facility will be a smaller area for “black box” theater events, he said of limited seating for performances.

A concession area will be in the same place as it was at the LaVon, and beside the entrance will be a “Little Buddy Museum,” featuring memorabilia from the local pioneers of the arts, including the late Bob Denver, the “Gilligan’s Island” star who settled in the area with wife Dreama Denver.

Puckett said another plan is to have a radio broadcast studio where Little Buddy Radio will be aired live and visitors can watch through a window.

The Renaissance Theater will be “funky chic,” he said as a way to describe the ambience/theme.

Puckett also made it clear it will not in any way “compete” with the Granada in Bluefield.

“I love the Granada,” he said of the newly restored theater in Bluefield. “What they have done in Bluefield is nothing short of phenomenal.”

The two theaters will work together and not overlap, he said, and that includes first-run movies.

“We will not show the same ones,” he said, and the theater will coordinate efforts with Nicole Thompson, the Granada’s program director.

The Granada is a larger venue, with the main seating area offering about 500 seats. It also has a much larger stage.

The LaVon, like the Granada, was a mainstay movie theater for several generations of local residents.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced the omnibus bill funding Wednesday, bringing a total of more than $250 million in earmarks for projects all around the state.

Princeton will also receive $2.2 million for a new Multi-use Community Center.

Puckett said the omnibus bill – the federal spending bill for the 2023 fiscal year – was “good for county government” as well as municipalities.

“It got the funding down to the local level,” he said. “We have not had that for a long time. It is providing a direct impact.”