Restoration

Bringing Back The Strand: Why It Will Work

The Strand, as many have already agreed, is worth saving! Bringing it back as a movie theatre is in tune with the Square’s historical heritage and will offer more entertainment choices to downtown Marietta.

The Strand will complement other businesses on the Square as a unique attraction and will appeal to local and area residents, as well as people from the greater Atlanta area. The Strand’s programming—all positioned as the nostalgic fun of “going to the movies”—will be a constant source of unmatched “event” entertainment. This enterprise will draw regional and even national publicity since it will be a unique entertainment venue, unlike any other in existence.

This is a rare opportunity to do something special that will benefit the immediate and metro Atlanta communities, commerce, and quality of life. Help bring back The Strand Theatre.

The Theatre

The theatre will include comfortable seating for 572 patrons, 442 seats on the ground level, and 130 in the balcony.

In addition to showing classic, foreign, independent, and silent films, the renovated theatre will feature a stage with a proscenium arch for live performances including black box theatre, musicals, concerts, dance recitals, and more. A dressing room and restroom facility will be housed beneath the stage.

True to the early days of “moving pictures,” The Strand will feature silent films with live music and sound effects by a theatre organ, which will rise up from underneath the stage for performances.

Reception Areas

A unique feature of the restoration is the construction of two reception areas, which will provide rental space for social and business functions.

The second floor area, previously used as office space in the old theatre, will be refurbished with a casual elegance theme in mind lending its use for upscale receptions. A fourth level reception area will give opportunity to enjoy food and beverage on the exterior rooftop overlooking the Marietta Square. This will be the only venue in the area with this capability. The two reception areas and roof terrace combined will give the potential for 185 people to enjoy a sit down dinner and nearly 400 to enjoy a standing reception.

The uniqueness of these facilities makes them attractive for rental and thereby an excellent source of revenue for the operation. It is anticipated that selected caterers will comprise a list of vendors who can provide food and beverage for upscale reception events.

Bringing Back The Strand: Why It Will Work

• Location, Location, Location - Often the historic downtown theatre is the first restoration on the block, which creates hope that other renovation projects will follow. However, The Strand is nearly the last renovation to occur thereby drawing the attention of thousands of people already living, working, shopping, and dining throughout the square.

  The City of Marietta has a nighttime population of over 60,000 and a daytime population nearing 100,000 people. The square itself has high daily traffic too, and is visited by thousands for special events throughout the year. At the 2007 Taste of Marietta event, it was estimated that nearly 80,000 people spent the day at the square. At the Fourth of July celebration, 50,000 people gather to watch the parade and enjoy the day-long activities every year. Between the square’s three arts festivals, 35,000 people stroll around the square while 13,000 people lounge at Glover Park during the summer concert series.

  Not only does the square have heavy foot traffic, but in the past few years, Marietta Mayor Dunaway and the City Council have dedicated themselves to the “revitalization” of the city, which promises to attract thousands more locals and tourists from around the state to the area. As part of this revitalization, $300 million in new residential construction and $40 million in commercial and retail space are being developed within three miles of the square. The City Council has set a goal to have 50% of the residential space occupied by 2009.This will undoubtedly have a monolithic impact on the population of the square and the success of The Strand Theatre.

  The demand for theatre entertainment experience exists and will continue to grow. Given the combined population and growth of the city and county, there is no doubt that The Strand will be one of several successful entertainment venues in the area. Once properly prepared, programmed and marketed, it will become a major player in the Atlanta metro’s entertainment community.
  

• Audience - The Strand’s “niche” is unserved, despite recent growth in area film-going opportunities and the appeal of proposed programming is not limited to any specific demographic although several core groups would attend differing productions regularly.
  
  
• Baby Boomers - Aged 40-55 and the only age group whose movie attendance increased in the last two years. This group is looking for more stimulating adult fare, has more time for such entertainment than in the previous two decades, and is even looking to revisit the films that excited them in their college days. That era was notably the last significant explosion of film interest, until now.
  
  
• Arts Aficionados - Pop-culturally speaking, entertainment is in the beginnings of another arts cycle. This is due to the convergence of both baby boomer interests and those of their offspring, now in college themselves and eager to experience more than the mainstream box-office hits produced by Hollywood. The Marietta and affluent Atlanta areas are abundant in both of these age groups, boomers and college students.
  
  
• Senior Citizens - With equal enthusiasm, although less regularly and in somewhat lower numbers. Will be attracted to classic programming.
  
  
• Young families - With and without children and teenagers. Will also be attracted to The Strand’s classic programming.
  
  
• Young single professionals - Key word-of-mouth influencers among arts, business and professional circles will make The Strand events a regular part of their entertainment. With the right amount of style in presentation and atmosphere, The Strand will easily become a hip area attraction.
  
  
• Unique - The Strand answers to a market demand for unique entertainment for a wide range of audiences, unlike any other venue. The convergence of a variety of community interests, economics and market needs offer a truly unique situation that will serve local interests and create an area “magnet” attraction.
  
  
• There is nothing quite like it anywhere—not even in New York. There are a number of national venues that feature similarities to some aspects of what The Strand would feature, but none with the combination of both program and venue. Among the few comparable situations, the programming lacks the venue or the venue is in the wrong location to be sustainable.