Bringing back theatre

     Milledgeville’s downtown Campus Theatre has recently been approved by the Board of Regents to be open as a “black box” performance theatre, as well as a retail bookstore.
     The Campus Theatre Project is a part of a seven-project plan, which will be funded by the Georgia Higher Education Facility Authority.
     The cost of the entire project is approximately $8 million, and is expected to be funded through the issue of bonds. The bonds are expected to be issued by December 2007.
     “They are revenue bonds, so they are paid back through revenues the projects will generate,” Jackson said. “In our case, it will be that bookstore. We’ll generate revenues that will be able to go back and be able to pay for the bond, or at least our portion of the bond. This is a self- paying program.”
     Opened in 1935 by Martin’s Theatres, the downtown theatre served as Milledgeville’s first run movie house. With the opening of Carmike Cinemas, located near the Milledgeville Mall, the downtown theatre was used mainly for showing casing second-run movies. The theatre closed in 1983 with the final movie “Married to the Mob.”
     GCSU recently purchased the Campus Theatre from Mr. Randall Hattaway, a local accountant whose offices are located in the upstairs of the theatre building.
     Main Street, an economic development organization, is currently located on the left side of the first floor of the theatre, while the far right side of the first floor is presently vacant.
     Negotiations to reopen the theatre began several months ago, when a preliminary study was completed to see if the structure was sound. The study, done by the Christman Company, a consulting and engineering firm, from Lansing, Mich., proved to be successful, and restoration plans are currently underway.
     GCSU plans to restore the front of the building to the original 1935 exterior style, though the interior is strictly for functional use.
     “There’s nothing pretty about it or decorative,” Judy Bailey, public relations specialist of University Communications said. “It has wooden seats; just rows and rows of wood-carved seats.”
     “‘Black box’ theatre (is) basically just a box, and then you can configure it any way you want. If you want to have a traditional stage at one end with seating- you can do that. If you want have a theatre in the round, you can do that,” Bryan Jackson, director of University Communications said. “It really gives you a lot of flexibility to do whatever the presentation you want to have.”
     The retail bookstore will carry textbooks, as well as general interests books to attract all whom live in Milledgeville.
     “It will serve both the college community and the community at large,” Jackson said.
     Jackson is glad the school decided to pursue the project.
     “The building has sat there for a long, long time. I think it was just kind of one of those projects that somebody like the college need to step-up to the plate, and say, ‘It makes sense for us. We need space for the theatre Department. They don’t have enough performance and storage space,’” Jackson said.
     Reconstruction is set to begin in January 2008, and hopes to be completed by spring semester 2009.
     “There are not a lot of win-wins in life it seems, but this one seems to be kind of a win-win for everybody,” Jackson said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 1 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry