Nestled along the Florida border, the City of Atmore, Alabama is uniquely poised for redevelopment to attract the next generation of workforce while retaining those who currently reside in the community. Driven by visionary leadership and engaged residents, Atmore is determined now more than ever to resurrect the historic Strand Theater and begin to activate the empty storefronts located throughout downtown.

Situated just 50 miles north from its urban counterparts – Mobile and Pensacola – Atmore recognizes that it must offer its own amenities if it is to attract and retain a skilled workforce, local and regional businesses, and high-paying jobs. By taking this first step, Atmore has demonstrated the community is ready to take on this challenge to enhance the quality of life of both current and future residents.

At the core of successful community planning efforts, engaged residents of diverse backgrounds come together to define a vision, develop goals, and identify measurable objectives to ensure their vision becomes a reality. In Atmore, passionate residents took their first step by attending the Delta Regional Authority’s Creative Placemaking Workshop in Tuskegee, AL to learn, share, and collaborate with other like-minded individuals hoping to spark positive change in their communities and regions. Having met many of the attendees at this workshop, the MEC Placemaking team was immediately taken by the passion and grit of three Atmore residents – Foster Kizer, Bub Gideons, and Susan Smith – all determined to champion more innovative community development efforts in downtown Atmore starting with the historic Strand Theater.

Since the Strand officially shut its doors in November 2013, they knew that revitalizing their infamous vaudeville film house would be an intricate challenge. While the facility has hosted some community driven-events in its space over the years, the historic one-screen theater – located in the middle of downtown – has largely been vacant and has fallen into disrepair. Bringing the Strand back to life, they believed, was the key to unlocking more economic development opportunities in Atmore. And after visiting the community, the MEC Placemaking team believed it as well.

Through extensive interviewing, research and community visioning sessions with more than 500 community members – including groups ranging from Escambia High School students, the Poarch Creek Tribal Council, local business leaders, the YMCA and Poarch Creek Youth Leadership – residents generated ideas that led to the creation of this action plan and expanded the scope of work far beyond the Strand Theater building. We believe this plan will serve as a catalyst for the entire Atmore community and neighboring areas.

This action plan would not have come together without the generous support, guidance, and ideas of Yukie Koichi of Stoa Architecure or Stephanie Rolin of Rolin Construction.

Downtowns and main streets are the economic engines of communities – big and small. However, in too many rural towns, downtown storefronts remain empty and buildings vacant or underutilized. Even more common are the historic theaters residing in the center of town that are rarely able to keep their doors open due to the lack of nearby retail and foot traffic from locals and tourists alike. Restoring a historic theater or performance space can positively influence a community’s quality of life and spur further economic redevelopment in the downtown district. Widely believed to be the oldest continually operating movie theater in Alabama, the Strand Theater is especially well-positioned to breathe new life into downtown Atmore.

On the other side of the Strand Theater is the former Hardware Store which will see a complete transformation. The first floor of the building should become a flexible performance space and rental venue, including a moveable stage, fixed bar area and box office. This versatile space should be available for both standing and seated events such as live music concerts, open mic nights, and trivia contests. At the rear of the first floor should be a separate entrance to be available for children and teenagers to have access to the second floor. The second floor of the former hardware store building should feature 2-3 flexible classroom spaces (one for dance/movement and the other space(s) to accommodate everything else in the program guide) and a small recording studio available for rent and music lessons. Finally, the second floor should include an artist studio apartment (500-600 square feet) to be home to a resident artist who will commit to teaching classes for working with the SSC’s education program. As part of the artist residency program, the artist will receive a monthly stipend, free room and board, and rotate out with another artist every 6-12 months.

Adjacent to the Strand Theater is the former Radio Shack building owned by the Anderson family. Recognizing the significant redevelopment opportunities in downtown Atmore, the Anderson family has agreed to join forces with the Strand Social Club on several new concepts for the existing building and interior space. Residents in Atmore are eager for a new restaurant to eat at, but also want a family-friendly environment so they can bring their children with them. To meet the needs of current and future residents, the first floor of the former Radio Shack building is slated to become a counter service pizza parlor and/or bakery complete with an interactive zone for young children. The second floor of the building will feature the interactive zone for children.

The building to the north of the former Radio Shack building is also owned by the Anderson family. This space is approximately 2,850 square feet per floor and offers a perfect opportunity to use both floors as a tailor-made makerspace. The makerspace will be home to several woodworking machines and computer programming stations designed for entrepreneurs, tinkerers, and anyone else wanting to learn more skills or needing help starting a business. Ultimately, the goal of these spaces is to bring new audiences to the SCC, but also to provide new sources of revenue for the Strand Social Club.

New programming can include:

• Computer Coding
• Woodworking
• Sewing
• Arts & Crafts
• Welding
• Graphic Design
• 3D Printing
• Ceramics
• Games and Puzzles
• Co-working Space

This campaign must feel inevitable. You have to will it to happen. This is the feeling that each campaign member must project, and that which every resident of Atmore should come to understand. “Of course this is going to happen,” everyone should think, and therefore, in their own time, and in their own way, they will get involved. Whether that means monetarily with a donation, volunteering hours, attending fundraising events, reading about it the media or online, or simply sharing their excitement about the Strand with others, everyone in Atmore needs to be transfixed with the excitement of this project.

The pitch for the project is slightly different depending on who you are talking to. You need to craft the pitch in a way that shows how The Strand Social Club opening in Atmore will affect them in a positive way. Think selfishly, for them. When giving the pitch to a potential corporate donor, your conversation can go something like this: “Downtown Atmore has been challenged for years to welcome outside visitors and business due to its consistent lack of storefront amenities. We’ve done a good job of presenting it with décor, but we need a thriving downtown to take the next step as a community, and to grow our economy.” Put your own spin on this, of course. Then ask them if their company is challenged to attract and retain a quality workforce. Inevitably they will say yes in some manner. “This project will help you attract and retain the workforce you want. We’ve spoken with residents and businesses all over the community, those who have lived here or have thought about coming. We hear the same thing everyone – Atmore does not have the quality of life amenities they are looking for. It’s why they choose Pensacola, or Mobile or even Spanish Fort over Atmore. Or if they do work here, they don’t live here, and have long commutes and are spending their dollars in other communities. The Strand will help change that. We spent the last year speaking to the community about what they want to see in their downtown, and this project is a manifestation of those ideas. Your support is not simply a donation, it is an investment in the future of your company and the future of Atmore.”

This same pitch can be tailored to the community member who is giving individually, and how this will affect them personally and why their involvement has such importance. Be it for their children, for their family or them individually, Atmore has needed an injection of local entertainment and culture that helps define what it means to be “from Atmore.” In addition, the students of Atmore need a place to recreate and to socialize in a safe environment where kids from each community of Atmore can mix and befriend one another. Building the Strand is like re-building what it means to be from Atmore. Just as Gather Restaurant has galvanized the community in a positive way, and given Atmore a new, unique quality, The Strand will do this on a much deeper, more visceral level.

Atmore is a community on the brink of revitalization. Residents – young and old – have demonstrated exceptional leadership and are willing and ready to take on these new, catalytic projects to bring their community back to life. Much of this excitement and enthusiasm for change stems from the historic Strand Theater.

Led by local leaders like Foster Kizer, Bub Gideons, Dale Ash, Cindy Colville, Nancy Lowrey, Herb Hackman, Emily Spurlock Harp and Justin Stabler, the concepts included in this plan will come to fruition. The leadership team assembled represents the correct approach for a community of Atmore’s size to move forward.

We recommend that the action steps laid out in this plan are followed, but understand that this plan and the business models created are meant to act as guides for your team. The plans will change as you uncover new partners and ideas.

The creation of the SSC will give way to a new renaissance for cultural and economic development in Atmore. The ideas and concepts in this plan will help provide this, but we cannot stress enough that the leadership team assembled will drive this plan more than any other program or slice of pizza. The leadership team must treat this plan and the necessary fundraising like it is inevitable, and will it to happen. Even during the points in the campaign when it seems like funding is not coming in, rest assured, with perseverance the money will be found, typically from the most unlikely of sources.

We have been honored to do this work with you, and get to know such wonderful people. Thank you for opening your homes, businesses, ideas and community to us. Atmore can, and should, become the envy of every smaller community in the south, and we believe this project will get you there.