The Vogue, probably Broad Ripple's most recognizable landmark, is getting a face lift. Or maybe I should say a reverse face lift?

Steve Ross, owner of the nightclub, explained the façade stripping that began on October 22, 2007.

"It started back in 1998 when I found the star," Ross said. Gazette readers may recall the history of the Vogue series we published four years ago that described how the movie star-inscripted bronze star had mysteriously vanished from the sidewalk in front of the Vogue box office. Years later it turned up, was cleaned and reinstalled in the sidewalk.

"That is when I met Carl Niesse's (original owner and builder of the Vogue Theater) daughter. She gave me the old pictures of the theater which (the Gazette) published that showed really good views of the original façade. As the years go by, you know I've been here 21 years, the ceramic-metal façade that is out there is slowly deteriorating. I thought, let's see what's under there. We took several panels off, looked up in there and said 'Wow! This is like a time capsule,'" Ross said.

Carl Niesse sold the theater in 1956. It is thought that the new owners installed the "modern" white façade around 1960, in an attempt to update the look of the 1938 single-screen theater in hopes to compete with the new General Cinema multiplexes springing up around Indianapolis.

It became obvious that some of the original glazed terra cotta tile had been damaged during the installation of the ceramic-metal panels. Holes drilled in the yellow tiles for anchoring the shiny white façade sometimes shattered an entire section. Perry Powers, a local contractor, went to a class to learn how to restore glazed terra cotta tiles.

With a qualified contractor in place, Ross decided that the façade restoration should begin so the project would be complete in time for the theater's 70th anniversary and the nightclub's 30th anniversary.

The project, which includes replacing the doors with new doors designed to match the original art deco ones, is expected to be completed by early December.

While most residents, your editor included, have only known the Vogue with its white front, a few people have commented while walking by the restoration "Thanks! That is the theater we remember."