CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Renovations have been done on the 1940s-era Varsity theater in Carbondale. The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that the theater has a new scrolling electronic marquee with LED lighting. Faded metal letters that spelled out Varsity have been replaced. They now are bright LED letters. Peter Pirmann is president of The Varsity Center for Arts. He says the theater’s front lobby has been renovated. He says contractors stripped everything in the lobby down to original parts and refinished it. The next step in the multi-million dollar renovation project is to redo the facade outside the theater so it looks like it appeared when Rodgers Theater Circuit built it in 1940. Pirmann says the goal is to support the arts but also restore an historic landmark in Carbondale.

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