The Staunton Performing Arts Center (SPAC) championed the redevelopment of the Theater for nearly 20 years. While the support did not develop to bring their vision to fruition, they remain committed to seeing the Historic Movie Theater serve as an important cultural and economic resources for our community. The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge led a transition to a new organization, a new board, new leadership, and a new vision.

In 2017, we began with a community survey that identified underserved communities and unmet cultural needs. Education and entertainment in the areas of film, food, technology and music will lead our offerings. The Arcadia Project is renovating to bring the buildings into the modern age while maintaining their historic character and current floor plans. The old movie theater will remain split into four auditoriums (the two on the ground floor to be renovated first). The Arcadia Building will remain a two-story building with the second floor kept as an open loft space, and the first floor divided for classrooms, gallery, and other uses.

In early 2019, the Arcadia Project negotiated a settlement to a debt on the historic (former) Dixie Theater, located at 125 E. Beverley Street, with Atlantic Union Bank, who donated $280,000. With $70,000 raised from 38 local donors, dubbed the “Freedom Circle,” the Arcadia Project closed the deal with the bank on July 1, 2019. We are very grateful to these donors who gave in amounts ranging from $50 to $10,000.

Since 2019, we’ve received grants from the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge; a Main Street Feasibility Study Grant in the amount of $25,000 administered by the Staunton Downtown Development Association. In 2021, we received a Brownsfield grant for $50,000 from the Economic Development Partnership to remediate mold and asbestos. These grants have enabled us to make significant progress in stabilizing downtown Staunton’s beloved historic theater. We refreshed the exterior, renovated and rewired the marquee with LED lighting, replaced the rear roof, cleared the interior, and completed engineering and construction studies.

In 2022, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development demonstrated its excitement and commitment to this goal by providing us with the largest planning grant in the state through the Industrial Revitalization Fund (IRF). With it, we created “shovel-ready” architectural drawings for the interior spaces and renderings for finishes, details, and furnishings.

On June 7, 2023, Arcadia Project sold the building at 119 E. Beverley Street to Miller & Associates, a highly qualified development services provider specializing in the adaptive reuse of historic structures. The firm plans to develop it into 23 rental apartments with commercial space on the ground level. 

The Arcadia Project received a $1,500,000 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development as a grant from the Industrial Revitalization Fund. The proceeds from the sale of 119 E. Beverley Street will be used toward the required 1:1 grant match.

We are in the midst of a capital campaign to raise the additional funding needed to open our doors with minimal debt in early 2025.