The curtains are closing on Atlanta Opera’s current back-end production offices, but it’s part of a dynamic new act.
Atlanta Opera announced Monday it will transform the historic Bobby Jones Golf Course clubhouse along the Beltline in Buckhead into its new arts center with administrative offices, rehearsal areas, a theater and education spaces. The $45 million project will also incorporate a 200-seat recital hall.
Main-stage productions will continue to take place at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The new recital hall will be designed to host a variety of events, such as classical performances, jazz ensembles, lectures and spoken word artists.
Located along Woodward Way, the 83-year-old clubhouse is owned by the state and will be leased to the opera. For years, the clubhouse has been targeted for an arts-related conversion, which Atlanta Opera leaders said makes it an ideal location for its new permanent home.
“A state-of-the-art facility in this park setting will be a source of creativity for our local and visiting musicians,” Tomer Zvulun, Atlanta Opera’s general and artistic director, said in a news release. “It is perfectly positioned to help us serve audiences and collaborators in our beautiful city and beyond.”
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
The opera said it has already secured its core funding for the renovation and relocation, which is part of a wider $110 million comprehensive fundraising campaign. It estimates completing the project by the summer of 2027.
The opera’s current back-end operations are based out of the Atlanta Technology Center along Northside Drive, but that leased space will be vacated upon the new arts centers’ completion.
Over the years, the Atlanta City Council gave the Haynes Manor Recital Hall Foundation approval to renovate the former golf clubhouse into a community-centric concert hall and music education center and the city entered into an agreement to swap the Bobby Jones Golf Course with the state of Georgia. Opera leaders said their search for a new home converged with the Haynes Manor Recital Hall Foundation’s plans, and they will collaborate to bring the new arts center to fruition.
The Peachtree Battle Alliance and the Atlanta Memorial Park Conservancy are also involved with the project. Atlanta-based architecture firm Post Loyal is the project’s lead designer. Theater Projects and A’kustiks are developing the recital hall.
Project renderings show the clubhouse’s facade will be restored and blended into new construction, which features a glassy modern design. The clubhouse will make up only about a third of the final 56,000-square-foot complex.
“The open and welcoming design of this building emphasizes the same values we held during the pandemic and that we will always espouse — of being a skillfully managed organization dedicated to making beautiful music available to everyone, everywhere,” Rhys Wilson, Atlanta Opera board chair, said in the release.
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