Developer hopes to restore historic Woodbury theater

From the sidewalk on Woodbury's South Broad Street, it is difficult to see the 1880 G.G. Green building the way developer Brian Wolfson does: as the bones of a historic theater waiting for revival and a potential economic engine for a struggling downtown.

The once-regal brick exterior is obscured by a dirty 1970s metal facade and window display cases that have sat empty for nearly a decade. Neglect and a leaky roof have caused decades of damage inside.

The building occupies a block on which all but one of the storefronts are vacant, on a street that sees as many as 25,000 cars each day, though few stop.

Wolfson says a $10 million investment and a groundswell of community support could transform the 27,280-square-foot building into a restored theater with an attached restaurant.

"We would see the original grandeur of the building as it was intended to be," he said.

Believers in Wolfson's plan say the Green block could act as a cultural magnet in Woodbury, as have the Broadway Theatre in Pitman and the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood.

But Wolfson, who lives in Haddonfield and runs his Tricon Development Group from Woodbury, has struggled to secure money and support. City officials have been reluctant to endorse the project.

In drafting Woodbury's redevelopment plan, set for release soon, consultant Robert Melvin of Group Melvin Design chose not to focus on cultural anchors the way other cities in the region have.

The plan instead aims at bringing people downtown to live and work, aided by a proposal to extend a light-rail line from Camden to Gloucester County. Melvin said the region could support a limited number of cultural destinations, so the city needs a more sustainable design.

"Nobody is saying Brian can't fit here," Melvin said. "But our approach is that it could be an important component. It can't be the component."

Melvin was one of two developers before Wolfson who considered restoring the property and passed on it. He said Wolfson's $10 million estimate to rehab the theater was low.

City Administrator Thomas Bowe, a Woodbury native and local history buff, said he hoped something could be done to save the building. But he was reserved in his optimism.

"He needs a lot of money," Bowe said.

The building is named for George Gill Green, who put Woodbury on the map in the late 19th century when his medicinal syrups were marketed across the country.

By the 1950s, Green's opera house had become a movie theater, which Bowe frequented as a boy until it closed in 1954. The stretch of Broad Street from Cooper Street to Barber Avenue was then "the mall of Gloucester County," he said. Today, as many as 40 percent of the storefronts are vacant.

Several city officials said they were waiting for the signal that Wolfson was serious: a purchase.

Wolfson has an option to buy the property for $428,000. That runs out this month, but he expects to renew it, he said. He said he was waiting to be sure the pieces fit.

With no nonprofit leading the effort and with limited support from the city, Wolfson said, "this is really about me making or breaking this."

His development group could profit from the project, and any improvement in town would aid his plan, now on hold, to build luxury condominiums on a property he owns one block north. He said he also had emotional ties to Woodbury, where his father worked before him.

"There's a lot of intrinsic value in doing something good for the community," he said.

Wolfson said he had preliminary commitments from private investors for $5 million. Another $5 million must come from government tax credits and public and private grants.

Wolfson is talking with a group interested in running the theater, which must come up with its own plan for financing operations.

Several hundred people have come to two community meetings he's held during the last month, giving supporters of the project hope that the groundswell Wolfson needs will come.

"He would be a superstar if we can get this thing going," said Ronda Abbruzzese, executive director of Main Street Woodbury, a nonprofit focused on downtown revitalization.

Some downtown business owners said they aren't getting their hopes up - at least not yet.

"You want to have faith in somebody, but you do have to be skeptical," said Dottie Lange, owner of the Monogram Shoppe, which has been doing custom embroidery on Broad for 25 years.

She wants to see the downtown come back. But, she said, it will take more than a theater. The town needs large-scale upgrades to buildings, renovated housing, restaurants, and zoning changes, she said.

Two decades ago, Gerry and Karen Corsi, owners of Country Sweets bakery, served up to 90 lunches per day. But major employers moved out of downtown, and foot traffic dropped. Today they serve none, and 80 percent of their business is wholesale.

The town needs a fresh start, Gerry Corsi said, beginning with demolishing the Green building.

"I'd rather have an adorable main street than live in the past," he said.