By Wendy Greenberg

First there was the Hopewell Theater, which closed in 2024 due to rising costs and the inability to obtain a liquor license. The red brick building at 5 South Greenwood Avenue sat empty until last month when the Hopewell Playhouse LLC opened the Hopewell Valley Stage at that site.

And now, the group behind the original Hopewell Theater plans to reopen the Hopewell Theater at 7 West Broad Street, around the corner. After a few years with no downtown theater, it may come as good news that now there are two venues, or at least another one in the planning stages.

Driving all this activity is a new state law that expands eligibility to serve alcohol in certain circumstances to include nonprofit and for-profit theaters and small movie theaters, and a follow-up ordinance in Hopewell Borough.

The license for the nonprofit theater on South Greenwood Avenue is in process, said Carol Lipson, executive director of the Hopewell Valley Arts Council. In the meantime, the venue is operating on social affairs permits available to nonprofit organizations, she said. The Hopewell Valley Stage is a program of the Hopewell Valley Arts Council.

Hopewell Theater’s new space at 7 West Broad Street will undergo a renovation after formal approval is granted to change its use from restaurant to dine-in theater. The theater will then apply to
the Borough for a theater liquor license, according to its recent press release.

Since the old site’s closure, notes Sara Scully co-founder and former executive director at Hopewell Theater, “we have been working on changing the liquor licensing laws to include for-profit venues and movie theaters in the existing law that allowed nonprofit theaters to obtain a liquor license for free.” That change was signed into law last summer by former Gov. Phil Murphy.

“Hopewell Theater now has an opportunity to apply for a liquor license given the State of New Jersey’s 2025 passing of a law allowing theaters to obtain a liquor license, and Hopewell Borough’s subsequent passing of an ordinance allowing Borough theaters to apply for this new theater license,” said Scully. “We are thrilled to now have a pathway to reopening Hopewell Theater, and we are incredibly grateful to Hopewell Borough Council for supporting the ordinance, as well as Governor Murphy and the legislators who supported this bill which extended a lifeline to live performing arts venues in our state.”

But a lot has to happen. The new space, which is actually the old space of Brothers Moon restaurant, will undergo a renovation after formal approval is granted to change its use from restaurant to dine-in theater.  The theater, says the press release, will then apply to the Borough for a theater liquor license.

Scully noted that “live performance venues and indie theaters need a license to remain competitive and enhance the experience they can offer the public.”

A press release from ArtPride NJ, which advocated for the changes along with Hopewell Theater, explains that “this landmark legislation is a powerful economic driver for New Jersey, especially for arts organizations still recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) is currently developing implementation procedures, the ArtPride NJ press release continues.

Before it closed, the Hopewell Theater on South Greenwood Avenue underwent extensive renovations that included a new lobby, box office, and concession stand, as well as a state-of-the-art cinema system with surround sound, a prep kitchen, and expanded theater seating area and balcony. The owners had hoped to open a restaurant at 7 West Broad Street in 2020 to complement the theater programming.

The South Greenwood Avenue building dates back to the 1880s as Columbia Hall, which served as a community center, theater, and headquarters of the local fire department on the site. In 1940, that building was demolished, reopening a year later as a movie house called The Colonial Playhouse, and it was used for Gallup polling through the mid-1980s, when it became the Off-Broadstreet Theater, until its 2015 renovation and renaming as the Hopewell Theater.

Meanwhile, the Hopewell Valley Stage has had three concerts, said Lipson. The group signed a two-year lease with right of first renewal, she said. Funding was provided by a foundational grant from the Betty Wold Johnson Foundation.

Seating is flexible in the theater, allowing for a variety of options but Lipson cited seating of 175-180. Weekend programming for June is on the website at hvstage.org.

At the time of the Hopewell Theater closing in 2024, Scully said, the future of the South Greenwood Avenue site “is not my story.” Scully and her business partner did not own the building, and she said she was going to “move forward.”

She said the West Broad Street reopening is planned for late 2026 or early 2027.  “We are undertaking the process of renovation right now which includes changing our building’s use from restaurant to theater,” she said. “It’s a beautiful space with parking and a great location on the main street through town.

“In the new space, Hopewell Theater plans to continue to offer the selectively eclectic programming it was known for, in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.”