Foundation unveils plan for performing arts center

Published 6:45 am Saturday, June 23, 2018

Plans to use the 850-seat auditorium at the new Athens High School as a venue for music concerts and other not-school-related performances were unveiled Thursday at Terranova’s new restaurant on the courthouse square.

Wine and hors d’oeuvres were served at the invitation-only event as a group of Athens leaders took turns sharing their vision for turning the AHS auditorium into a performing arts center.

Athens City Schools Foundation Executive Director Chris Hamilton, ACS Foundation Board Member Clare Grisham, retired ACS teacher Deborah Holladay, One Stop Shop Director Amy Golden and City of Athens Communications Specialist Holly Hollman have been working on the plan since mid-March.

Hamilton said it is time for Athens to take advantage of their proximity to Interstate 65 and Nashville, where the music industry has a $10-billion impact on the region annually.

“This idea is bigger than Athens City Schools. It’s bigger than the city of Athens,” Hamilton said. “If we are serious about wanting a stronger quality of life in this area, we need to make this happen.”

Still in its grassroots phase, Hamilton said the gathering at Terranova’s was designed to “test the waters” and get input from community leaders.

Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks said he can see how the concept would boost the quality of life in Athens.

“This will grow our community and give the people who live, worship and work here an even better quality of life than we have now,” he said. “I’m 1,000 percent for it but what I’m looking for is buy-in from the community.”

Recently, Hamilton and her team visited Aniston High School and the Oxford Performing Arts Center to get a feel for how their programs worked. According to Hollman, volunteers have run the Aniston High School performing arts program since it started 72 years ago.

“What we found,” Hollman said, “was they had heavy funding from the city and major volunteer support from the community.”

Lifelong Athens resident Susan Ming thinks turning the AHS auditorium into a performing arts center is a great idea and would be willing to serve as a volunteer to make it happen. Greg Young, a drummer for a local band called “Valley Cats,” said he’d be wiling to get behind the idea as well.

“We always had some sort of music playing on the square when I was growing up,” he said. “This would really open some doors for some better venues. It’s a shame that we have to drive to Nashville or Birmingham (to go to a concert) when we could bring them here.”

Right now, Marks said he is treating the concept like an industrial development project. He said he knows the project will require “a cooperative, collaborative effort.”

Hamilton said if everything goes as planned, they could start booking acts to perform in the AHS auditorium as early as next spring.