Lane Theater holding Summer Sidewalk Cafe Friday evening

A group hoping to renovate the old Lane Theater in Williamsburg has a fundraising event planned for Friday evening.

The Restore the Lane Theater Facebook group has announced a Summer Sidewalk Café planned from 6 – 9 p.m., which will include the sale of food and free live music.

Alicia’s Treats will be selling food that evening.

Organizers say that the event is a pilot project of sorts, and if it is successful, they may try to hold similar fundraising events in the future.

The Lane Theater, built in 1948 on Main Street in the heart of Williamsburg, exemplifies art deco style, and is on National Register of Historic Places.

The theater closed in the 1980s, and restoration of it is projected to cost over $2 million.

In August 2002, the non-profit Williamsburg Action Team purchased the 600-seat Lane Theater from the city for $58,300. In 2007, the group received a $60,000 Renaissance on Main grant to pay off the building’s mortgage.