STAUNTON - The former Dixie Theatre hasn’t seen an audience since its closure in 2014. Now, it could become a gathering place that inspires community and culture.

Formerly the Staunton Performing Arts Center, the group has now been taken over by a new nonprofit organization called the Arcadia Project. Founders Thomas and Pamela Wagner started poking around the community about the potential of the project back in 2017. They want to bring an all-inclusive community cultural center for the theater, events, media studios, class and more.

Now, the nonprofit bought the former Dixie building, which included the Arcadia building directly next to it. But the two needed to do a lot of work before any of that happened.

The back story

The Staunton Performing Arts Center was the nonprofit that was trying to get the two buildings up and running as an arts center. Starting in the early 2000s, the nonprofit started raising funds and renovating the Dixie, but things were slowly down – drastically.

Between 2001 and 2012, the nonprofit SPACE raised about $2.2 million from the city, county, state and 940 private donors. They spent more than $2 million to renovate the Dixie and gut the Arcadia in order to move forward in their realization of a performing arts center.

That organization decided to purchase the Arcadia so it could use its shell to house improvements it will be required to make to the New Theatre — as the Dixie originally was called.

It also cost the organization more than $169,000 a year just to operate the buildings, which is why they rented out the Dixie Theatre. After that closed, the revenue went with it. They estimated it would take more than $14 million to fulfill the organization's vision.

The center started to reach out for guidance in the community after the financial investment for the project became challenging.

Fast forward to 2016.

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Enter stage left

That’s where our main players come in — the Wagners. The two had been looking for their next act after owning their own documentary film production company, Turtle Rock Productions, Inc., in New York City for over three decades. The two have won two Primetime Emmy awards with their production company, among a bevy of other awards.

“We were looking for a place to stage a next to act outside of New York City ... and we came down to Staunton for a look,” Thomas Wagner said. “Pam fell in love immediately.”

The two ended up starting conversations with the Staunton Performing Arts Center and took tours of the two buildings. Then, they wrote a survey and distributed under the hashtag #CREATEStaunton to 250 people. That hashtag spun into a Facebook group with just under 400 members.

“I think the first insight we had was the buildings are great just as they are, they don't need to be turned into something that they're not. And the second insight was, did anybody ask the community what they think should happen?” Pamela Wagner said. “So we found out no, so we wrote a survey … We asked people what they thought not what was missing in Staunton, but what were some unmet cultural needs.”

Then came what is now called the Arcadia Project.

That was 2017. Then came listening sessions and fundraising in 2018.

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But the Wagners also needed to figure out the debt that was on the Dixie Theatre building — $349,000 was still owed to Union Bank (now Atlantic Union Bank).

“Over a period of time, we came to a number,” Thomas Wagner said.

The bank forgave $279,000 of the debt and the nonprofit raised $70,000. That money was raised by 38 members of the community with donations ranging between $50 to $10,000 a person.

Talks started at the end of May for the Wagners and their nonprofit to take over the property. As of July 1 they closed on the Dixie property, which included the Arcadia building. The nonprofit now has a board of directors and is run fully on volunteers.

About the new vision

The Arcadia Project is hoping to receive several grants.

They were recently awarded a $2,000 community grant through the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge this spring and last.

Another they hope to receive is an industrial revitalization grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community, which would match whatever money they could raise for the project along with the value of the buildings. And it’s a hefty sum — potentially $4.2 million.

They, along with the Makerspace, also applied for a grant from Etsy and MasterCard called the Maker Cities Grant. If chosen, Staunton would be designated a maker city and could earn up $40,000 in grant money, according to the grant's website. The program gives grant money to five nonprofit organizations to invest in a year long economic development project.

The project has been broken into three phases:

Phase 1: The lobby and bathrooms of the Dixie — up to $350,000

They want to spruce up the inside area, which would include a new lobby and bathroom area (one ADA accessible). The same footprint will remain in place, just a more open and bright space, with HVAC work, plumbing repairs and environmental remediation.

Phase 2: The two downstairs theaters in the Dixie — up to $800,000

One theater will remain the same set-up with a projector and seating but will be updated. The other theater would have the slated theater floor leveled for an event space.

Phase 3: The Arcadia building — up to $3 million

Renovate the first two floors and leave the second floor’s ceiling open, not adding an additional third and fourth floor, to create more of a large loft events area.

Each dollar amount is subject to change depending on the grant funding and they are planning for both contingencies, Thomas Wagner said. If the grants go in their favor, the first phase of the project could be open by the end of 2020. They are also looking for private donations to help with fundraising efforts.

In the meantime, the nonprofit and volunteers have been cleaning up the buildings, but they haven't been able to hold any programs there. The two buildings are insured as vacant buildings, so cleaning up is what they can do for now until major rehabilitation happens.

Bringing history and stories back to the building.

The Wagners are committed to telling the long history of the Arcadia and Dixie by putting up a video both — aptly named The Dixie Booth — where people can record their memories.

“We are committed to telling the stories of the buildings, the happy and the bad,” Pamela Wagner said.

But they also want to make it a space for community collaboration, especially in the arts community.

“We’re committed to a space that serves the community and is welcoming,” Pamela Wagner said. “We’re trying to meet that need.”

“We’re determined to be very collaborative with all the other groups in the community,” Thomas Wagner added.

For more information on the project visit the Facebook group #CREATEStaunton or on the Community Foundation's website.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the grant dollar amount the Arcadia Project received from the Community Foundation.

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You can reach reporter Laura Peters at lpeters@newsleader.com. Follow her @peterslaura.