By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

For the past year, the Eagle Theater has been given a serious makeover.

The theater opened in 1940 and sat 500. It closed in the 1990s and has been home to other non-theater businesses ever since, standing empty for the past few years.

Pontiac Mayor Bob Russell has spent a lot of time inside that building and said he hopes it is open for business by the end of September.

“It’s set up, for sure, for our local people, but we have had requests from groups from people who aren’t from Pontiac who will rent this who have talked about comedians being in here,” Russell said. “Again, we hope it’s used every day and just from the response we’ve had so far, we anticipate it will be very busy.”

Before opening, lighting, sound, walls, painting and the curtain needs to be finished. An addition, which will include a restroom and dressing room for the people going on stage, will be a three month process, according to Russell.

“Entertainment and the arts are becoming very popular and they draw a lot of people to your city,” Russell said. “We’ve seen it happen in neighboring communities and we’re anticipating it will happen here, so we think this will be a great addition to our city.”

Plans for the theater include dinner theaters and space for conventions, among other things.