The 85-year-old Waldoboro venue, closed since 2014, has been refurbished and reopened by community members, who are hoping to make it an arts center and economic driver.

Most tourists and out-of-towners know this midcoast town as the home of Moody’s Diner on busy Route 1. Relatively few venture off the state highway and onto the village’s quaint Main Street.

But the volunteers who’ve spent the past five years renovating Waldoboro’s gem of a theater are hoping that could soon change. Built in 1936 by a wholesale lumber dealer who spent summers in town, the Waldo Theatre’s Greek Revival-style exterior blends with the other historic structures on Main Street, while Art Deco touches inside speak to its days as an elegant movie house.