STERLING – On Friday, I received word from City Manager Scott Shumard that a months-long project to develop a former downtown landmark was about to take a big step forward.

The council is set to vote tonight whether to loan $550,000 to the Greater Sterling Development Corp., so it can buy and develop the Sterling theater.

For as long as I've lived in Sterling, almost 3 years, the downtown theater has sat empty. Countless times, I've driven or walked by and seen the massive and impressive marquee with "Sterling" spelled out in dull, lightless bulbs and imagined what it would look like turned on.