Historic, 1940s Atlanta theater's mixed-use revival is a go

Nearly a decade in the making, the mixed-use revival of a landmark Westside movie theater is set to officially move forward next month. 

A Grove Theatre project groundbreaking ceremony led by the Grove Park Foundation and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is scheduled the afternoon of Nov. 4, officials announced today. 

In 2017, Grove Park Foundation acquired the historic, circa-1941 theatre building—which had fallen into disrepair in recent years, following a variety of uses—as part of early efforts to boost commercial and affordable housing investments in the neighborhood. 

The 1576 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway theater is located about three miles west of Georgia Tech, just south of Westside Park, the city’s largest greenspace. Across the street is the KIPP Woodson Park Academy, a K-8 school founded in 2019 in partnership with Atlanta Public Schools.

The $5.5-million renovation is considered a Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative project funded by philanthropy (Bank of America and Chick-fil-A each donated $1 million) and Tax Allocation District development funds. 

Plans call for turning the vacant former movie house into a community hub for arts and culture as part of a broader push to inject life into Grove Park’s historic commercial core. 

According to Grove Park Foundation, the vision calls for a cultural and performing arts center coming together at the theater, with flexible space for performance, programs, and small business operations. 

Invest Atlanta documents in 2024 showed the renovation adding offices, storage space, and a break room on the second floor while retaining the theater use at ground level. The building’s throwback façade will be restored, according to project renderings.

Elsewhere around the interior will be flexible performance and studio spaces for arts and culture partners, along with a slot for a café or other retail, project officials have said. Plans call for 10,400 square feet of total leasable space.

Project officials have previously said the Grove Theatre renovation will be a 12-month project. We’ve asked for updates this afternoon and will add any additional information here that comes. 

For now, find more context and visuals in the gallery above. 

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