Botanical Sciences, a physician-owned medical cannabis provider, held a grand opening event this week at its new Cobb location at 2468 Windy Hill Road.
The company grows, manufactures and dispenses medical cannabis and has plans to operate five dispensaries in metro Atlanta and Georgia.
The Cobb dispensary is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for patients using medical cannabis for a variety of health issues, ranging from autism and cancer to Parkinson’s Disease and Tourette’s Syndrome.
It’s the second such medical cannabis dispensary in Cobb, opening not long after Trulieve’s Marietta Medical Dispensary on Cobb Parkway near Whitewater.
Botanical Services (website here), which was founded in 2020, sells a variety of tinctures, capsules and topicals for home use by patients approved to use medical cannabis.
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Wheeler High School cheerleaders marched with the band at the 25th EAST COBBER parade Saturday. ECN photos, video
While most major community activities have returned to normal in the wake of COVID-19, there has been one major event whose absence has been notable.
The year 2020 was to have been the 25th anniversary of the EAST COBBER parade and magazine, but was cancelled due to the pandemic. The event was delayed again in 2021, with public health guidance still uncertain.
The logistics of pulling off such a large, comprehensive community event are daunting enough. But last spring, when I spoke to founder and then-publisher Cynthia Rozzo, she was optimistic about a return.
However, she sold the magazine to Laren Brown, her advertising manager, not long after that, in the summer of 2022, and there just wasn’t time to take over the helm of the publication and pull together its signature event.
So the parade and festival would have to wait until 2023.
On Saturday morning under pleasant skies, Johnson Ferry Road was closed off for the silver anniversary of the parade, and a familiar vibe returned with it.
More than 50 community organizations and businesses made the mile march from Mt. Bethel Elementary School to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where a festival took place with a similar number of exhibitors.
Those numbers aren’t what they were before the pandemic, but the friendliness was hard to miss. Kids enjoyed bouncy houses and snow cones, spectators brought their dogs and small businesses and non-profits laid out their wares and information.
Brown came to our table with a swag bag and said her first shot at organizing the event was quite an undertaking. She had assisted Rozzo, who was on the scene Saturday to lend a hand for which her successor was grateful.
Recreating a small-town flavor of an old-fashioned community parade was what Rozzo wanted to provide to a Sunbelt suburb where people come from all over.
After four years of waiting, they got to enjoy that atmosphere again, and our community really feels like it’s got its groove back.
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Cobb public safety officials will ask commissioners on Tuesday for $2.2 million in reserve funding to complete the construction of a new police precinct in Northeast Cobb that’s been delayed by funding issues.
According to an agenda item, (you can read it here), the additional funding is needed to build out offices and other internal facilities for the long-delayed building, which is located next to the Mountain View Aquatic Center on Gordy Parkway at Sandy Plains Road.
An estimated $5.5 million has been spent thus far on the precinct, which was approved by Cobb voters in the 2016 Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) with a budget of $5 million.
Last June, commissioners approved a “maximum guaranteed price” of $5.4 million with Batson-Cook the contractor, as construction costs have been soaring since supply chain issues were prompted by COVID-19 closures.
Tuesday’s agenda item said that the additional funding from last year also has been depleted. The remaining work includes completing office space for command and administrative staff, holding cells, evidence rooms, workout rooms and “additional staff restrooms,” the agenda item states.
“Completing the project now will decrease construction costs and maintain the health of the existing structure,” the agenda item states. “An implementation plan for staffing is being developed by the Police Department to be executed upon completion of the project.”
The total estimated cost for the precinct is now $7.736 million.
Initial plans were for Cobb Police to house several specialized units at Precinct 6 but not have a patrol zone. Most of the East Cobb area is covered by patrol units from Precinct 4, based on Lower Roswell Road, and stretching from Canton Road to the Powers Ferry Road corridor.
The commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
It also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.
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Following up our story last week about the possibility that CenterStage North might halt its 2024 season at The Art Place-Mountain View due to Sunday staffing issues with Cobb PARKS:
Jonathan Liles, CSN’s managing director, told East Cobb News Friday that the community theater organization and the county have come to an agreement to continue Sunday staffing by employees of The Art Place.
He said he met with Cobb PARKS staff Friday and said that CenterStage North Sunday shows and Sunday musical recitals will continue into 2024.
“We discussed the potential of future partnerships and how it could benefit The Art Place,” Liles said without elaborating.
The county told CenterStage North last month that starting next year The Art Place would be closed to all Sunday activities due to staffing issues at the county-run facility on Sandy Plains Road, located in a complex with the Tim D. Lee Senior Center and the Mountain View Regional Library.
Liles said CenterStage North had been getting inquiries from patrons about the 2024 season. He previously told East Cobb News the all-volunteer non-profit couldn’t exist financially without ticket sales from Sunday matinee performances, and there was no other place to go.
“Without the Sunday revenue, I cannot afford to stay open,” he said.
The Art Place also offers art classes and holds special arts exhibits and receptions. Earlier this year, Sunday musical recitals there were discontinued due to the staffing issues.
East Cobb News has left a message with the county seeking more information.
CenterStage North will soon proceed with planning its 2024 season, which includes four to five performances a year, including a special Christmas event.
“We’d like to thank The Art Place Staff, Cobb Parks and Rec Assistant Director Mario Henson, and Marie Jernigan, the Cultural Affairs Director, for their support and partnership,” Liles said.
The 2024 season is as follows, with ticket sales starting in October:
The 39 Steps – Feb 2024
Drinking Habits – May 2024
Maytag Virgin – August 2024
Little Shop of Horrors (Musical, rights pending) – October 2024
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Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson has launched a website and filed initial paperwork to run for the 6th District Congressional seat that includes some of East Cobb.
The first-term Democrat, whose tenure on the board is the subject of an ongoing legal dispute over redistricting, is holding a kickoff event for her Congressional bid next week.
On Thursday she announced on her campaign’s social media outlets to “join us for our big announcement in 6 DAYS!”
She’s accepting donations on Jerica for Congress website, as well as RSVPs for a kickoff event next Thursday at the Avalon mixed-use development in Alpharetta.
That’s currently within the boundaries of the new 6th Congressional District, which was redrawn by the Republican-dominated Georgia legislature after Democrat Lucy McBath won the seat in 2018.
Those boundaries included East Cobb, North Fulton, Sandy Springs and some of Buckhead.
Last year McBath, a black Democrat, won the 7th Congressional District seat based largely in Gwinnett.
But a federal lawsuit has been filed challenging the Georgia U.S. House maps, contending that they were drawn to dilute minority voting strength.
Richardson resides in the new 6th District, but reapportionment drew her out of her East Cobb home in District 2. Her term expires at the end of next year.
Her Congressional campaign website doesn’t include priorities or other specifics other than some basic biographical information.
“Jerica’s success lies in recognizing that what connects us is far greater than what separates us,” the website states. “Solving problems through collaboration and empowering others is a way of life for Jerica and she wants to put that to work for the citizens of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.”
She and the board’s other two Democrats approved maps last fall that would have kept her in her commission seat. A lawsuit was filed by Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill to challenge Cobb’s decision to invoke home rule, arguing that only the legislature can conduct reapportionment.
Gambrill was denied standing in the suit in Cobb Superior Court but a hearing on its merits is scheduled for November.
Congressional maps showing metro Atlanta seats. Source: Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office
The new 6th District includes some of East Cobb, North Fulton and Sandy Springs, and Republican strongholds in Forsyth in Dawson counties were added.
That seat was won last November by Republican Rich McCormick, who got 62 percent of the vote in the general election over Democrat Bob Christian, who has filed to run again in 2024.
A trial began this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, following a ruling last week that struck down a Republican-majority Congressional maps in Alabama for similar reasons. The state has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Richardson was elected in 2020 in her first campaign for public office to succeed three-term Republican commissioner Bob Ott.
According to Federal Election Commission reports, Richardson filed her campaign paperwork on Aug. 16.
In addition to Christian and Richardson, another Democrat has filed to run. Shelly Abraham of Duluth, a mechanical consulting engineer, is a first-time candidate for public office.
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A few hundred spectators decked out in garden-party attire watched as a large green curtain was pulled down Thursday to reveal a new public plaza at Avenue East Cobb.
The centerpiece of the retail center’s redevelopment also features a live music stage, and a high-energy cover band rocked the venue for a couple of hours after that, as guests munched on appetizers from current and forthcoming restaurants, enjoyed cocktails and danced.
More than a year in the making, the new open-air plaza signals a new phase for Avenue, which has been rebranded as it has been re-energized.
An official from North American Properties, which signed on as a management partner last year, calls it “East Cobb’s hometown hangout,” with the purpose tied to getting the public to come, and stay.
Two new “jewel box” restaurants are still under construction, and some outdoor seating has been set up in front of Round Trip Brewing Co., which will be opening a German-style taproom next spring.
But the plaza is officially open to the public, and continuing events such as Friday night live music are on tap. That includes “Electric Avenue” concerts every Friday from 6-8 p.m. through October.
The plaza features a variety of comfortable chairs and sofas and two bar areas, along with a green turf in front of the stage suitable for spreading out blankets.
Rev. Dr. Ike Reighard, CEO of MUST Ministries, thanked the attendees.
The venue also includes optional valet parking, which some cocktail party guests took advantage of at Thursday’s event.
The cost was $75 a person, but all the proceeds went to MUST Ministries.
CEO Ike Reighard said the result was $10,000 for the Marietta non-profit, which typically served around 300 homeless clients per night before COVID-19.
That figure shot up to 1,500 a night during the height of the pandemic.
“The only thing that exceeded the level of need was the level of generosity, and that’s what you did,” he said.
Reighard, who’s also senior pastor at Piedmont Church, told the audience that “you won’t hear a minister saying ‘drink up,’ but thank you.”
Pimiento cheese grit fritters from Peach State Pizza.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The 2023–24 Atlanta Opera season will be getting underway in a week, with most performances at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.
The opener will take place Sept. 15-Oct. 1 at the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, and it will be the East Coast premiere of “The Shining,” based on the Stephen King novel.
The Cobb Energy Center is the venue for the rest of the way, with another horror classic, “Frankenstein,” leading off on Oct. 28 in what’s being called an “imaginative presentation of vintage cinema.” The performance includes a new score for the full orchestra and singers performing live to the film.
Guiseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto will be performed on Nov. 4, 7, 10 and 12 to round out the 2023 calendar year.
Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème will be presented on Jan. 20, 23, 26 and 28, with star tenor Long Long making his Atlanta Opera debut.
Benjamin Britten’s adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs on March 2, 5, 8 and 10 featuring countertenor Iestyn Davies and soprano Liv Redpath.
The season finale takes place on April 27 and 30 and May 3 and 5 and it’s Richard Wagner’s “Die Walklüre,” following last year’s Atlanta Opera presentation of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold.”
Tickets are available atwww.atlantaopera.org or by calling the ticket office at 404-881-8885 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
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Amy Rees of East Cobb, a local artist and entrepreneur, is partnering with a non-profit called It’s The Journey to raise awareness for breast cancer.
The organization is holding a Georgia 2-Day Walk Oct. 7-8 that will cover 30 miles in the city of Atlanta (here’s the route).
Rees, the owner of AmyWynne Designs also created Personality Plates, a collection of hand-painted stoneware plates. That includes a line called the Sisters in Pink collection to honor women who have helped, motivated and inspired her.
Those driving forces include her mother Bobbi Strauss, now 82, who as a teenager in the late 1950s was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy.
“This aligns with our own mission of supporting women in need,” Rees said in a release. “Our Sisters In Pink initiative is more than a collection of plates; it’s a tribute to every woman, who has faced the unfathomable journey of breast cancer with courage and resilience,” said Amy.
“However, this project also resonates on a deeply personal level for me. My mom, Bobbi, is one of the reasons I wanted to create this line. I can’t even call her a breast cancer ‘survivor’ because she didn’t ‘survive’ life, she is living it to its fullest! I wanted to share her powerful story.”
Strauss was detected with breast cancer at a time when women were discouraged from being public about it beyond telling family members.
“They thought they were protecting me by keeping it a secret,” Strauss said in the release. “It was 1959 and they didn’t want people looking at me differently.”
She didn’t have a support group and didn’t confide even with friends. But photographers would take pictures during her hospital recovery for medical journals.
Rees is the only child of Bobbi Strauss and her husband, who died more than two decades ago.
“Amid all her trials, my mother has always exuded positivity, gratitude, and grace,” Rees said, “She has never viewed herself as a victim, but rather a survivor; someone who considers herself fortunate for the time she had with my father, and for the joys of being a mother and a grandmother. She stands today as a beacon of hope and strength.”
The Sisters in Pink Collection, according to Rees, “is a symbol of our collective hope for a future where early detection, comprehensive treatments, and open conversations about breast cancer become the norm, not the exception.”
The EAST COBBER parade has regularly featured teachers of the year from East Cobb schools.
After a four-year hiatus due to COVID-19 and an ownership change, the EAST COBBER magazine is bringing back its community parade and festival Saturday.
This is the 25th rendition of the event and the first under owner Laren Brown, the magazine’s former advertising manager who purchased the publication last year from founder Cynthia Rozzo.
Everything else should be familiar to those who’ve attended before—the parade marches off at 10 a.m at Mt. Bethel Elementary School (1223 Johnson Ferry Road) and heads down Johnson Ferry Road to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (Olde Towne Parkway entrance).
That’s where the festival takes place from 11-3, and admission is free.
The first event was in 1995 with 500 people marching and has grown to include high school marching bands and many community organizations. An estimated 1,000 participants are set for Saturday’s event, which features a tribute to local schools.
“Our principals and Teachers of the Year are the parade’s VIPs,” Brown said, “We realize many people move to East Cobb because of the schools, and the parade has always been a unique way to honor and celebrate all our great schools.”
The festival includes entertainment, arts and crafts, concessions, carnival games, and local businesses (East Cobb News will be there as a first-time vendor!).
CertaPro Painters is the Presenting Sponsor of the parade and festival.
“As a safety measure, the Cobb County Police Department will shut down Johnson Ferry Road — both northbound and southbound lanes — between Lower Roswell Road & Upper Roswell Road and will be closed to traffic 9:45am to 11:30am. Woodlawn Road will not be closed, but traffic will be affected. Princeton Lakes Drive will be closed from 8am to 10:30am for the parade staging area at Mt. Bethel Elementary School, 1210 Johnson Ferry Road.
Cobb County Department of Transportation will be setting up road detours at the intersections of Indian Hills Parkway & Roswell Road and Indian Hills Parkway & Lower Roswell Road. Road detours will also be set up at the intersections of Timber Ridge Road & Roswell Road and Timber Ridge Road & Lower Roswell Road.”
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Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Wheeler High class of 1993 is hosting a reunion party for classes of 1990-1995 on Saturday, September 23, 2023 from 7PM – close at The Chapter Room in Sandy Springs.
The Chapter Room is a speakeasy style bar tucked away under the Taco Mac at The Prado. All Wheeler alumni from 1990-1995 and their guests are encouraged to attend!
Tickets are $100 and include two drink tickets as well as heavy appetizers. A well stocked cash bar is also available.
Joseph Wheeler High 90’s Reunion, brought to you by the class of 1993
The class of 1993 knows how to throw a party! Getting rowdy at the Sheraton, the Opera night club, PBR at The Battery, and now, a speakeasy at The Prado. Join us at The Chapter Room, where the drinks are cold, the chairs are comfy, and the lights are dim. ‘Cause you know… like a fine scotch, we’ve aged 30 years.
We are extending an invitation to all those classes that didn’t get to hold a proper reunion in 20-22. All classes from 1990-1995 are invited to attend!
It’s time to relive the good old days! Join us for the Joseph Wheeler High 90’s Reunion, where we’ll be celebrating the amazing memories and friendships we made during our high school years. Get ready to reconnect with old classmates, reminisce about the unforgettable moments, and create new memories together!
Date: Sat Sep 23 2023
Time: 18:00:00 GMT-0500 (CDT)
Location: 5600 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs, GA 30342
Whether you were a jock, a nerd, a drama kid, or somewhere in between, this reunion is for everyone. Come as you are and let’s celebrate the unique bond we share as members of the Joseph Wheeler High School classes of the 90’s. Expect an evening filled with laughter, dancing, and catching up with old friends.
Don’t miss this chance to reconnect and reminisce about the good times. Mark your calendars, gather your yearbooks, tidy up your Facebook/Instagram pages and get ready for an unforgettable night. Let’s make new memories together and prove that it’s truly great to be together again!
Tickets include two drink tickets, heavy appetizers, a private party location and the chance to see all of your old crushes under the influence of alcohol (like that didn’t happen back in school). Cash bar also available.
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Kelly Boatright, who with husband Kyle Boatright is a co-0wner of a new Stretch Zone fitness studio in East Cobb, has passed the information and photos marking its grand opening.
It’s located in the East Cobb Crossing Shopping Center (4371 Roswell Road) near Dog City Bakery.
Stretch Zone features a special method “to reeducate the nervous system to increase the active range of motion,” according to a company release.
The goal is to maximize flexibility regardless of athletic ability or body type, and the instructors are certified in the method.
Stretch Zone, which has 300 locations, including Acworth, Kennesaw and Roswell, is utilized by professional athletes for training, competition and recovery, and has a partnership with former NFL quarterback Drew Brees.
Those who sign up for a package through September will enter a drawing for a jersey signed by Brees
“I started my relationship with Stretch Zone on the table, when I started receiving treatment to alleviate my hip pain,” Kelly Boatright says. “I’ve seen firsthand the difference this practice can make in mobility and wellness, and we are extremely excited to share those differences with our neighbors in the East Cobb community.”
She said the new East Cobb location is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. It’s closed on Sunday.
First visits are free and customers can begin earning Flex Points, Stretch Zone’s rewards program, upon sign-up.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
Aug. 14
508 Augusta Drive, 30067 (St. Augustine Place, Wheeler): $244,000
498 Indian Hills Trail, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): $2.683 million
4579 Divine Court, 30067 (Estates at Woodlawn, Walton): $1.8 million
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
At the time, as we marked our 5th anniversary, I was getting down to some business I had planned before the pandemic: Securing office space, upgrading technology for advertising purposes and actively promoting the next stage of development for this news site.
It’s been an eventful and largely successful year, and I’ve come to regard Labor Day as a time to reflect, take stock of what’s happened and gear up for what’s to come.
One of my priorities continues for a few more months, as I recently launched a crowdfunding campaign, “6 for 6,” asking for readers to make financial contributions.
We did this in July, when we observed our 6th anniversary, knowing it was the middle of summer and people would be out and about.
Now that school is back in session and fall will be here soon (it feels a little like it this weekend!), we’re revving up our drive to ask you to help support the work that East Cobb News does in chronicling our community.
As I have said in previous appeals, this is totally voluntary—we do not have a paywall and do not charge readers for anything on our site or to subscribe to the newsletter.
But we hear from readers all the time about how much they value what they get from East Cobb News. If you agree, we’d like to ask you to consider making a donation. The amount can be whatever you like, but we’re suggesting $6 a month.
It’s similar to a public radio/TV fundraising drive, and every dollar is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all of you who have donated thus far!
We have a secure system on the Press Patron platform, which helps local news publishers like me solicit support from readers like you.
The video below explains more about “6 for 6” as well as what’s in the local headlines this week, and tells you more about what’s coming up.
Next weekend, East Cobb News will be taking part in the EAST COBBER Parade and Festival for the very first time. We won’t be marching down Johnson Ferry Road, but we will have a table at the festival, which takes place from 11-3 at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
Come by and say hello, pick up some East Cobb News swag and let’s get acquainted! I love meeting my readers and can’t wait to see all of you.
Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend, and please feel free to get in touch: wendy@eastcobbnews.com.
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The Friends for the East Cobb Park has released a schedule of fall events starting the first week of September and concluding with its annual Holiday Lights celebration in December.
The volunteer organization will hold another family-oriented Movie Night next Friday, Sept. 8, featuring the Disney film “Encanto.”
The showing begins at dusk (around 8 p.m.) at the concert pavilion and attendees can bring blankets and chairs, food and drink.
The Friends began a series of movie showings in the spring in conjunction with the Rotary Club of East Cobb.
The Music in the Park concert series follows on Sept. 17 with Soulshine, an Allman Brothers tribute band.
Music in the Park takes place on designated Sundays from 4-6 p.m. and is free for the public to attend.
Other concerts are Oct. 1 (Rusted Melody), Oct. 15 (Man Hand Liggins) and Oct. 29 (Bach to Rock).
Wellstar Health System is the presenting sponsor of Music in the Park.
The Friends group also has begun a garden club that meets the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the gazebo overlooking the back quad.
Next Saturday, Sept. 9, the club’s first beautification project gets underway
Friends for the East Cobb Park is teaming up with the Rotary Club of East Cobb for the annual Holiday Lights celebration on Sunday, Dec. 3, also at the concert pavilion.
There will be live music, refreshments, a tree lighting and a visit from Santa Claus, from 5-7:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Friends for the East Cobb Park at info@eastcobbpark.org.
Lisa Clark and Bob Winsted played leading roles in “Fireflies,” a Texas-based romantic comedy staged at The Art Place in August. Photo: CenterStage North
One of metro Atlanta’s longest-running community theaters said it may not be able to offer a 2024 season due to changes at the Cobb County-owned facility where it stages performances.
Jonathan Liles, managing director of CenterStage North, told East Cobb News that Cobb PARKS (Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs) officials informed him last month that the theater organization won’t be able to have Sunday shows at The Art Place-Mountain View in East Cobb starting next year “due to staffing.”
He said The Art Place will no longer furnish an employee for Sunday activities, including rehearsals and stage set-up, even though CenterStage North pays for an employee to assist with lighting and other technical issues on its show days.
This year, The Art Place discontinued Sunday piano recital activities.
CenterStage North shows take place on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons, typically over a two-week period in The Art Place’s theater that seats between 125-210 people.
Ticket sales fund operational costs for CenterStage North, including rental fees at The Art Place. The board members and actors are all volunteers, as are those who assist with the performances.
“CSN is on a mission to save the arts in Cobb County,” Liles said in a message responding to a request for from East Cobb News for comment. “Without Sundays, we are unable to support this mission.”
The Art Place holds art classes and exhibitions as well as CenterStage North shows.
But Liles said the main concern isn’t operational but financial.
“Without the Sunday revenue, I cannot afford to stay open,” he said.
“The majority of our revenue comes from subscription sales to shows and donations, and we are one of the few arts organizations that stays solvent using this model.”
In addition to Sunday being the best day for volunteer availability, Liles said the Sunday matinees are “the only time some patrons can see a performance. . . . It generates critical revenue that funds operating costs covering the next production.”
Liles said he is meeting with county officials next week to discuss the matter, and he said he’s proposing “creative scheduling with the existing staff” to come up with a solution.
East Cobb News contacted the county for more information.
Spokesman Ross Cavitt said that Cobb PARKS “is dealing with the fact that the Art Place is not staffed for a seven-day-a-week operation with only two full-time and two part-time staffers. The Art Place is the only art center open on Sundays for rentals.”
He said with the center’s hours—10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday—”it has been challenging to keep them staffed,” and that the average Sunday patron turnout is around 30.
The rest of CenterStage North’s 2023 schedule—including a political comedy, “The Outsider,” and its annual Christmas holiday show—will go on.
But this is the time of year that the theater finalizes its schedule for the next year. Liles said that hasn’t been happening, and subscribers have been asking.
“When our patrons ask us why we have not announced our next season, we had to inform them what was happening and that we are unsure that we will be able to have performances next year,” he said.
He said that CenterStage North has no other place to go if it can’t work something out to remain at The Art Place.
“We would have to go on hiatus” in 2024 at the very least, he added.
CenterStage North is an all-volunteer non-profit that has staged community theater performances in Cobb County since the 1970s, initially in the Smyrna area.
The theater group’s current name was adopted in the 1980s and it staged shows at The Steeple House Arts Center, which was located on Johnson Ferry Road at Paper Mill Road.
Center Stage North volunteers work on a set design at The Art Place.
CenterStage North later began leasing space at The Art Place, located on Sandy Plains Road near the Mountain View Regional Library and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center, and began staging full seasons, with quarterly performances, plus special shows for the Christmas holidays.
CenterStage North was set to expand its season subscription to five shows in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and performances stopped in 2020, and returned in limited fashion in 2021.
Liles said support for the arts has been decreasing since then, and that only CenterStage North and a few children’s theaters serve the East Cobb area.
He noted that in Cobb County “ball fields are open on Sundays. Why not the performing arts facilities? There are organizations clamoring to rent on Sundays if the facility is open.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
