The Pex Theatre in downtown Eatonton will be making a return as the Eatonton Downtown Development Authority works to repurpose the building into a home of Black history for the county.
After being closed for about 30 years, the Pex Theatre Project recently had a new exterior sign installed that caused quite a stir. On its day of installation, several locals gathered with curiosity on the sidewalk across the street to see what was happening to this town staple.
According to Teresa Doster, chair of the board of directors of the Eatonton Downtown Development Authority, the new sign is just part of a multiphase plan to restore the Pex Theatre.
“We’re kind of in the phase now of working on the facade, the appearance,” said Doster. “We are trying to get this phase done by the end of year.”
The current phase of development includes the new sign, putting tile down, placing signage on the entryway inside and finishing the outside of the building with LED lights, structural developments and more.
“We plan on having advertising packages to be sold for the LED boards that are on the current marquee, but we didn’t want to light it all up and get it all together until we had the project for the exterior complete,” said Doster.
When the current phase ends, however, Doster predicts funding for the Pex Theatre Project will likely be running low. She explained the development authority then plans to campaign to gain general interest for the project to make the Pex Theatre Project a public-private partnership.
“We would then use that additional funding to finish the inside of the theatre,” she said.
According to Doster, current short-term goals are to complete the facade of the building and to be able to generate some revenue and help offset costs by selling advertising.
“It’s a long-range project,” said Doster. “In the meantime, we’re always looking for partnerships and grant opportunities within both government and private enterprise to also assist with funding opportunities.”
Once the project is complete, Doster said the Pex Theatre will remain a theater inside but the former retail store space, connected to the theatre, will become a Black history museum.
“It’s also designed so it can be set off from the theatre,” said Doster. “So it can be open and used without the theatre itself being open.”
The addition of the museum space directly connects to the theatre’s prominence in Putnam County history, as in 1986 the Pex Theatre was the first to premier the movie “The Color Purple,” based on the novel by local Pulitzer-winning author Alice Walker, who attended that premier.
“It’s a great place for the museum to be,” said Doster. “But we haven’t really decided on the specifics of the museum yet. At the moment, we just know that we will work together with the other museums to ensure everybody’s doing something that is related, but not overlapping.”
The current Pex Theatre Project does not yet have a completion date planned but Doster hopes the facade phase will be over by the end of the year.