Madison Theater in Creative Loafing

[Chuck]

In case you guys haven't seen, there's an article about Madison Theater (& VA-HIs Hilan Theater) in the loaf.

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A98697

[Chuck]

oops, that was supposed to go under residential development/zoning. sorry.

[Shivers]

Cool beans! Maybe something will come of that.

[coffee achiever]

oops, that was supposed to go under residential development/zoning. sorry.

Moved. And I'm with Shivers - I'd LOVE to see something happen in the Madison Theater space. It's a beautiful building and it's such a shame to see it languish like it has.

[Spanky]

This is going to sound really weird, but follow me.  I grew up in L5P during the late 70's.  We had earlier versions of the zoning problems etc.  Here are some suggestions if workable based on what happened in the L5P Community back in the day.

1.  If the owners would agree, have recitles or small plays there done by community folks or daycares.  A  little elbow greece done by the community would get it spick and span enough for that.  It wouldnt' be illegal if it were a little neghbor thing right?
2.  Open some sort of art gallery there.  Totally illegal, just a bunch of cool art hanging and free access to the public.  It's not like that plance isn't open on almost any given weekend.  Maybe we could talke it over. 

[Cap'n Ken]

This is going to sound really weird, but follow me.  I grew up in L5P during the late 70's.  We had earlier versions of the zoning problems etc.  Here are some suggestions if workable based on what happened in the L5P Community back in the day.

1.  If the owners would agree, have recitles or small plays there done by community folks or daycares.  A  little elbow greece done by the community would get it spick and span enough for that.  It wouldnt' be illegal if it were a little neghbor thing right?
2.  Open some sort of art gallery there.  Totally illegal, just a bunch of cool art hanging and free access to the public.  It's not like that plance isn't open on almost any given weekend.  Maybe we could talke it over.  Jus tsome little ideas, but based on L5P back in the day,  Don Bender can vouch for some of this, it beats nothing.
Just ideas on what could potentially take place here in the interm.

Damned hippie.

I'd imagine in this age of liability insurance requirements, ADA requirements and the like, it's a lot harder to just open up the space and use it.

[Shante Cohen]

I would love to see another music venue....that size is so good for this city

[Spanky]

Damn Hippies nothing Capn.  I drove one of Don Bender's first electric cars down the sidewalk of Euclid when I was 10.  I know it was a different time with zoning and what not, but where did Anarchy go???   It seems like a well organized no brainer to me.  Think about it?!
That day during the corndog fest when I was doing show tunes on the stage..if someone had slipped me a buck...who's to stop that???  Thank about it!

[Cap'n Ken]

Damn Hippies nothing Capn.  I drove one of Don Bender's first electric cars down the sidewalk of Euclid when I was 10.  I know it was a different time with zoning and what not, but where did Anarchy go???   It seems like a well organized no brainer to me.  Think about it?!
That day during the corndog fest when I was doing show tunes on the stage..if someone had slipped me a buck...who's to stop that???  Thank about it!

Well-organized anarchy?

Problem is some drunk fool (not you) singing show tunes and falling off the stage would probably sue the guy who holds the lease, Abe Asher, the leasing company, the city, the guy who left the door open and the Earl.

I'm all for getting it done - hell, in high school I belonged to a club whose sole purpose was to pay for senior trip by throwing a series of for-profit keg parties for 15 year olds - but the world just isn't that simple anymore.

[LizMark]

In case you guys haven't seen, there's an article about Madison Theater (& VA-HIs Hilan Theater) in the loaf.

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A98697

Thanks for the article...it would be GREAT if the Madison could be restored to its former 1920's glory! Every night the stage could host rock bands/events, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons they could show old movies.

How 'bout this for an advertising tagline: "Meet You At the Mad".

Just dreaming out loud...

[Gibbga]

I wonder if there is any way of getting SouthStar Community Development Corp. involved in the renovations needed, even if it is just some type of low interest loan or something.  I'm pretty clueless on what SouthStar does or has the ability to do, but it sure would be nice if some entity was in the city providing low interest loans for rehab projects.

[MRice]

Just read the Loafing article. Looks like we need 500 neighbors to throw in a thousand bucks apiece to get it going. And then what's the maintenance?
You'd also want to have booze with your old movies or new plays. Can nonprofits get a beer and wine license?

[coffee achiever]

I was also wondering if the Atlanta Preservation Center could get involved, but I have no idea how to get a property on the list of Endangered Historic Places, and I couldn't find any info on their website (http://www.preserveatlanta.com/) ... anybody know anyone there?

[jhays]

Can nonprofits get a beer and wine license?

Absolutely! 

[littlelizard]

There's already quite a host of music places, and if it got a bar it would be a shame that there would be yet another place I would not go because of smoking....

How about....

The East Atlanta Performing Arts Center!

I have no idea if the stage area could be made larger to accomodate sets, but it's an idea... And it's a space that the whole community would enjoy. I don't have kids, so I'm out of the loop, but what kind of arts activities are there for the wee ones in or near the EAV? Particularly kids whose home environments may not encourage artistic exploration.