801 Magnolia to Undergo Quick Transformation

Nancy Lerhkind, president of the board of directors for the new Piedmont Arts Center, wants the venue to host its first "bring-your-own-chair" concert before the end of July.

"July 20 is my day," Lerhkind said.

There's a lot of work to do between now and then (see the "before" pictures to the right). The building at 801 Magnolia St, which was once home to a Christian Science Church, has long been neglected. The roof is leaking, the paint is peeling, the furnace is cracked.

In the lease agreement for the building, the city, which owns the building, gave the arts center a 16-item to-do list for everything that must be fixed before the doors open to the public (see the attached document, "Exhibit C").

The work is slated to start as soon as the keys are handed over June 3. Lerhkind is confident it can all be completed in just seven weeks, maybe less.

"The all important handicap bathroom–that's the one that's going to take the longest, because it's the only thing that's truly structural," she said. Making the bathroom accessible will require opening up a doorway and putting up a new wall. "I figure I've actually got an entire week to spare in case we get blind-sided by something."

Rot underneath the roof could be an x factor. Lerhkind said sound proofing and electrical needs are also still being figured out.

"The artists want receptacles [for lighting] in the floor. … The theater folks want more lighting for the stage."

Step one is to rip out all the old carpeting. Lerhkind is planning to attack that with a team of volunteers the first weekend in June.