Lindsey Myers, one of the owners of the building, said, “If we’re lucky, we’re looking at a projected opening date in 2016.”
On Wednesday, the city’s board of zoning appeals granted the theater owners a variance that would place the movie theater on the ground floor, with a banquet hall in the basement and residential space in the levels above the theater.
Perry said revised plans call for removing the entire building and reassembling the historic canopy eight feet north of its current location.
The theater, which dates back to 1900, had closed Nov. 25, 2012, after its then-owner, Alliance Entertainment, sold 25 of 26 theaters to Regal Cinemas. Regal, however, did not want Oxford’s theater because it was smaller than the others in the sale. The theater underwent renovations, reopening in late 2013 until the fire the following March.
One of the theater’s neighbors, an Oxford resident and businesswoman, is eager to see the Princess come back to life. The building has been sitting unused, with weeds sprouting up around the property.
“As a community member, I would absolutely love to have it open again,” said Lisa Leishman, the owner of You’re Fired, the neighboring pottery painting business on Beech Street. “As a business, I would love to have it open again so it would look better over there.”
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