With the lunar landing still a year away, the Alliance Theatre opened at the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC) — at that time known as the Memorial Arts Center. The exterior of the building has changed dramatically over the years, the performance spaces within have remained relatively untouched, a concrete time capsule of 1968. While the adjacent High Museum, a vital part of the Woodruff campus, has seen two additions — one by Richard Meier in 1983 and one by Renzo Piano in 2005 — the Alliance has been more time-warpy than Rocky Horror. With the recent announcement of a $38 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation — the largest grant in the history of the Woodruff Arts Center — that is all about to change.
From the total grant, $11.5 million is slated to go toward the renovation of the Alliance Theatre, with another $4 million earmarked by WAC for the project. A single rendering is available, offering just a hint of the potential project outcome. Produced by tvsdesign, the firm behind such attractions as the Georgia Aquarium and the College Football Hall of Fame, it seems the space is destined for lots of wood and purple. Whatever the final outcome, it will hopefully be an improvement over the current stark concrete cavern.
· Woodruff Arts Center's Windfall [Creative Loafing]