POWERGRAMS

28 Like so many small towns nationwide, even before the pandemic, more and more storefronts were falling to the fate of local movie houses, closing their doors forever. In 2015, Gideons and like-minded lifelong residents began scheming to save the Strand, and with it revive their historic downtown. Early meetings of townsfolk were met more with incredulity than assurance, particularly when told the Strand campaign would cost several million dollars. Some people simply got up and left the meetings: Atmore had never seen such an expensive community enterprise. "They said, 'You'll never be able to raise that kind of money in Atmore,'" Gideons recalls. But the price tag didn't dissuade everyone. The Pride of Atmore nonprofit was formed with Gideons as chairman of the board and Executive Director Kizer. Plans were developed, the building was purchased in 2014 and people in the community began to see the possibilities. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians gave $1 million as other local businesses and people pitched in, too. The Alabama Power Foundation contributed $25,000. "This is the biggest-ever single investment, by far, in Atmore history," Gideons says, poking at a piece of brightly painted rotting wood lining the edge of the old stage. "But we've had total buy-in by everybody now. It's going to be what keeps the millennials home." The restoration not only involves at least $4 million, but the thoughts of more than 500 community members, historic preservationists, architects, interior designers and government officials. The Atmore Community Foundation in 2018 acquired the adjacent Atmore Hardware Store; the oldest building in downtown and now considered the key to creating an arts and education center for the ages. Kizer and Gideons walk next door to the 123-year-old two-story building that will house a recording studio, dance studio, concert venue, classrooms with computers and an apartment where artists will live free during a six- month rotating paid teaching stint. A courtyard and kitchen will be added out back. The theatre will be for movies; the old hardware store will be the moneymaker that helps keep both sides open for business. Even before renovations began, both buildings were added to the Alabama and national registers of historic places. Reconstruction involves complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act, for the first time making each building easily accessible to the handicapped. "None of these things happen quickly," Kizer says in May. "We'd hoped to have been done with construction by now." Original iron window grates, rusted by the elements, rest against a back wall of the old store. Bare electrical wires crisscross the ceiling leading down to lone light bulbs hanging from strands overhead. A weathered sign lies on the freight elevator floor: "Thank you for your patronage. Will re-open in the early spring." Perhaps it was wishful thinking on the former owner's part, as no wares remain in the building. But Gideons and Kizer can see past the dusty bare floors to the grand opening a year or so away. "This is our dream, believe it or not," Gideons says, smiling as he traverses the rickety back stairway to the first floor that is soon to become a backstage green room. "There used to be an old potbelly stove here when I was young," Kizer says. "My Dad and all the old men would sit around it in the winter, drink coffee and talk." Gideons says that for some 40 straight years, downtown Atmore continually lost the kind of businesses Kizer fondly recalls. Twenty businesses have opened downtown the past two years. "This," Gideons says standing on the sidewalk outside the future Strand Theatre complex, "was one of the catalysts for that growth." POARCH CREEK INDIAN MUSEUM A 15-minute movie shown in a log cabin is sometimes enough to pique the interest of someone who knows nothing about the earliest Alabamians. Some visitors stay for hours touring the Kerretv Cuko Museum. Just inside the Poarch Band of Creek Indians reservation stands the tribe's museum, opened in 2012 to showcase the 2,000-year history of the original residents of Atmore and much of Alabama. The replica 1800s-era log cabin is but one segment of an outstanding exhibition of artifacts, historical maps, informative videos and audio options all at visitors' fingertips. Open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, the Building of Learning is free to explore without limitations, other than for health safety. Beginning at the lobby exhibit table of a tribal village where each area is explained at the push of a button, visitors can circle through informative panels alongside stoneware, pottery, tools, baskets and textiles made and used by the Creeks. The Creek Nation once covered most of Alabama and Georgia, going back thousands of years from when legend says they began moving from the Far West to Alabama following the direction of a falling pole guided by their Maker. The Poarch Creeks lived along the Alabama River, including areas from Wetumpka to Mobile. Unlike many eastern Indian tribes in the late 1800s, the Poarch Creeks were not removed by the federal government from their tribal lands and have lived together near Atmore for more than 200 years. The museum traces highlights of Creek Indian history from the Paleo period to the present. Lobby exhibits are changed frequently, such as around Mother's Day when "Our Beloved Matriarchs" featured standout Poarch women of the past two centuries, including current Tribe Chair and CEO Stephanie Bryan. "I believe that our ancestors would be proud that we, their descendants, Artist's rendering of opening night at the restored Stand Theatre complex. Kizer, Gideons hold plaque noting federal historic designation for the future Arts, Cultural, Learning and Emergency Assistance Center.

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