Peoples Bank Theatre General Manager Miranda Duty, center left, and Peoples Bank President and CEO Tyler Wilcox cut the ribbon for the Marietta theater’s new digital marquee Friday evening. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

MARIETTA — If anyone wasn’t sure where the Peoples Bank Theatre is situated in downtown Marietta, that shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Dozens of theater patrons and local officials gathered in front of the historic establishment on Putnam Street to cut the ribbon for its new digital marquee, which displays upcoming acts including Amy Grant, Ben Folds and Pat Benatar. The ribbon-cutting itself took place before a concert by country music star Chris Janson.

In the past, “you could drive past this theater without even noticing it,” Marietta City Council President Susan Vessels said. “There’s no missing it now.”

The digital marquee joins a new knife board over top of it and a new, state-of-the-art JBL VTX sound system inside.

The theater opened in 1919 as the Hippodrome Colony Theatre. After closing in the mid-1980s, the efforts of local supporters led to its rebirth in 2016 as the Peoples Bank Theatre, with significant financial support from its new namesake.

People gather beneath the new digital marquee and knife board prior to a ribbon-cutting event Friday evening at the Peoples Bank Theatre on Putnam Street in Marietta. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

The new marquee is “the capstone of decades of work by so many dedicated individuals,” said Peoples Bank President and CEO Tyler Wilcox, shortly before cutting the ribbon with theater General Manager Miranda Duty. “This is part of our love letter to the community.”

Ohio Sen. Brian Chavez, R-Marietta, said the resurrection of the Peoples Bank Theatre inspires other communities to breathe new life into their theaters.

“Now it’s not only an inspiration, it’s a little beacon,” he said.

Among those attending the ribbon-cutting was Sharon Reagan, a member of the theater’s board who grew up in Marietta and retired here with her husband in 2019. Her brother, Dan Stephan Sr. was instrumental in preserving the building, purchasing it in 1989 in hopes that it could one day be restored.

“It’s just been a wonderful addition to this community,” Reagan said.

People gather beneath the new digital marquee and knife board prior to a ribbon-cutting event Friday evening at the Peoples Bank Theatre on Putnam Street in Marietta. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Duty said she’s gotten lots of positive feedback about the marquee.

“We are very proud to be a wonderful footstep into Marietta,” she said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

Ohio Sen. Brian Chavez, R-Marietta, second from right, speaks at the ribbon-cutting for the new digital marquee at Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta Friday evening as, from left, theater General Manager Miranda Duty, Peoples Bank President and CEO Tyler Wilcox and Marietta City Council President Susan Vessels listen. (Photo by Evan Bevins)