CLOVERDALE - The building that housed the historic Clova Theatre is being restored to its former glory.
Surrey council gave third reading Monday night to a Heritage Revitalization Agreement application seeking to renovate the theatre to its original state.Changes will include painting the front of the building cream and black, as it was when it first opened, as well as redoing the theatre's marquee sign, windows and box office. "We know the building is a piece of history in Cloverdale," said Lee Francois, pastor at Crossridge Church, which took over the venue last summer from its former operator."We want to honour that legacy," he added.Craig Burghardt, who ran the Clova Cinema, closed its doors as a theatre last August after he was unable to raise the funds to upgrade to digital technology.The iconic theatre, originally designed by prominent architect H.H. Simmons, was constructed in 1947 in the "streamline moderne style" of the postwar era. The theatre was one of the first modern buildings constructed in Cloverdale during that time, and was identifiable for its smooth, curved stucco-clad front façade and projecting theatre marquee.At the time it was built, downtown Cloverdale was still a regional commercial, retail and entertainment centre, before the arrival of car-oriented suburban shopping malls. The theatre was significant to the community as television wasn't widely available at the time.Today, the building primarily functions as a church, though Crossridge ran classic Christmas films for the public for free over the holidays and plans to keep it open for the Cloverdale Rodeo. With files from Kristi Alexandra