The move to

renovate a local movie theater into a performance venue for local theater

groups has not been abandoned.

It has just

been on the backburner for a while, partially due to the holidays, said

Sandra Jungers, president of the Endowed Committee for the Cultural Arts

in Fayette County. ECCA is seeking financial assistance from the Peachtree

City Council, and ECCA officials hope to make a presentation to council

at one of its January meetings, Jungers said.

The city's

assistance is needed since ECCA can't afford to renovate, operate and

fund the building's lease at the same time. Renovation costs alone were

being estimated at between $200,000 and $300,000.

The three-screen

movie theater at Westpark Walk in Peachtree City closed earlier this year

and has remained vacant. But ECCA is developing a plan to renovate the

facility as a performance theater, which would make scheduling performances

easier since theater groups currently depend on school facilities as their

performance venues.

ECCA officials

believe they can make a performing arts theater profitable with the help

of the City of Peachtree City. The group is proposing that the city fund

the lease for the two or three years while the ECCA funds the costs of

renovating and operating the theater.

The hope is

that after those first few years, the building will be profitable enough

to at least break even allowing the ECCA to take over the facility's lease.

The renovation

would include construction of two stages, adding dressing rooms, reconfiguring

the seats and adding sound and lighting equipment.

Two of the

three existing movie screening rooms would be combined for a theatre with

approximately 300 seats, leaving the third room for a smaller theater

with over 100 seats, Jungers said.

ECCA would

start a county-wide fund-raising campaign to help fund the renovations

if the city decides to go along with the group's idea.

ECCA has been

actively looking at other buildings throughout the county to renovate

into a theater, including some warehouses and retail space such as the

former K-mart store in Fayetteville. But the Westpark Walk location is

the ECCA's best shot to get the theatre movement off the ground, Jungers

added.

ECCA is a 17-year-old

organization that began with the goal of providing cultural activities

for the community. The group's first project was promoting the need for

a library in Peachtree City, she added. Since then, ECCA has also financially

supported Peachtree City's amphitheater.

Over the years,

ECCA has raised over $200,000 in contributions and membership dues, Jungers

said. And that's mostly relying on one main fund-raiser: the yearly Valentine's

Day Ball.