Campus Black Box Theatre Renovation

Georgia College & State University

The Campus Theater is typical of the Art Deco-style theaters that were once ubiquitous in towns throughout the southeastern United States.  It opened in 1935 and served as a traditional performance hall for nearly half a century before closing in 1983.  The building fell into disrepair, and stood mostly empty until Garbutt was chosen to perform a due diligence stud and subsequently, the restoration and adaptive reuse of this historic building.  This project had three goals:  to provide a central location for the university bookstore to improve the efficiency of operations and expand all non-textbook retail business; to provide a dedicated black box theatre, classrooms, and practice facilities for GCSU’s performing arts department; and to serve as a resource for the greater Milledgeville/Baldwin County Community.  After completing a successful due diligence study, Garbutt determined the best course of action was to combine two of the school’s bookstores into a single, centralized entity.  Garbutt also performed an early abatement and selective demo package to help get the project ahead of schedule.