Georgetown Theater Sign Shines Briefly for New Year’s

Saying goodbye to 2015 and welcoming 2016, the iconic sign for the former Georgetown Theater at Wisconsin Avenue and O Street NW was illuminated for several hours, Dec. 31 to Jan. 1.

The capital letters, “GEORGETOWN,” were aglow in neon-red at night and in the early morning light. The sign had not been lighted for more than 20 years.

Building owner and architect Robert Bell met with family and friends at the old theater on New Year’s Eve briefly for a champagne toast to the sign, the building and Bell’s years of work on the project.

The sign will be switched on for good sometime in the next few months. The official ceremony for the sign’s relighting has not happened because the main doors of the building are not ready, said Bell, who bought the old theater property in October 2013 and is still renovating the building at 1351 Wisconsin Ave. NW for retail and residential use.

Bell added that the glass-topped canopy at the building’s entrance will be trimmed with vintage marquee lights.

The original sign was hauled away in September 2014 and re-done at Jack Stone Signs, which originally manufactured it in 1950. It was reinstalled in July, but not lighted.

“Restoring the neon Georgetown sign has been a project of mine for seven years,” Bell told the Georgetowner previously. “The Georgetown Theater is the missing link to restoring Wisconsin Avenue from Book Hill to M Street as one of America’s best streets. Restoring the façade and vitality of this property will be a major improvement on the quality of Wisconsin Avenue and Georgetown.”

Architect Robert Bell and his plans for the rejuvenation of the old Georgetown Theater property were the subject of a Jan. 15, 2014, Georgetowner cover story.