Work will begin next week to transform the appearance of the iconic Watford Palace Theatre.

The theatre, in Clarendon Road, will be shrouded in scaffolding on Monday, as a £140,000 project to renovate its historic façade gets underway.

The Grade II listed building, opened in 1908, enjoyed an extensive £7.5million interior refurbishment between 2002 and 2004. Its exterior, however, was left to continue its sad decline because of funding constraints.

Some £20,000 of the money was raised by local businesses and members of the public, who responded in their droves to a fundraising appeal promoted by The Watford Observer.

The remainder of the cash came from Watford Borough Council and the theatre’s reserves.

Workmen will arrive on Monday morning to begin phase one of the project, which will include the cleaning and re-pointing of brickwork and the restoration of the iconic Palace Theatre sign.

Lynne Misner, development manager at the theatre, said the work was long over-due. She said: “Everybody is really excited about this project. The inside of the theatre has already been refurbished and looks fantastic, but it is important that the outside matches the inside.

“We want to make a feature of this building so that people really notice it when they arrive in the town. One of the things we will be doing in using modern lighting techniques to show the building off at night. We’re going to put a red LED light around both of the domes on the roof so they can be seen from across the town.”

The current façade dates back to 1915, when the theatre – enjoying the golden age of vaudeville light entertainment – was expanded to meet demand.

The current works, which are taking place nearly 100 years later, are scheduled to be completed by October 3.

Mrs Misner added: “The building is an iconic landmark in the town. When people think about Watford many of them will think of The Palace Theatre. Our motivation here has been to preserve this historic landmark for future generations. The level of support we received for this project just shows that we really are a cultural town.”

The theatre will remain open during the building works.