[Editor's note: From the 2015 project archives.]
When my family and I moved to the Lake Norman area in 1995, there was one movie theater, located in Cornelius, the next town north. As the area exploded, first one, then a second theater opened—only about a mile apart.The Palace Theater was built in 1998 to meet the entertainment demand of the fast-growing community, a suburb area north of Charlotte, N.C. It was a 12-screen theater with stadium seating and an Egyptian motif interior design.
The “Palace” was located at the end of a 100-acre, mixed-use development, with the only major anchor tenant at the far end. There were several business and restaurants, but they, too, were located at the opposite end of the development.In a move to solidify market share, the nearby competing theater, part of a large chain, bought the Palace Theater and promptly closed it down. Not too long after, the anchor at the other end of the development closed as well.What had once been a thriving, growing development was now quietly dying.
Vision and direction
In 2004 I transitioned from a church staff position to a title as consultant for a church design-build company. Over the next six years, I worked with four different church plants in the area to consider the Palace as their permanent location. All were viable candidates, and each had a different vision for the facility. The most interesting was to work with the local YMCA and open an “Express Y” in half [of] the building, with the other half [being used] by [a] church.At various times during this period, church leaders, architects and engineers would accompany me on a tour of the empty theater. The previous owners had left in a hurry—popcorn boxes, movie posters, and boxes of paper cups were scattered around the concession area. The building itself was in sound shape; it was only missing people to make it come alive again.
The owner was reluctant to sell the theater, though, especially to a church, it seemed. One church came closest when the pastor’s wife flew cross-country to meet with the owner in California—unannounced. It was a cordial meeting, but the result was the same: no sale.
As the months turned into years, the building slowly began to decay. It occupied a poorly lit, unmanaged corner of the development. And the only notice it got was of the wrong kind.After being vacant for so long, the Palace Theater was now attracting unwanted attention through vandalism, under-aged drinking, and drug use. In 2010, the local town officials issued an ultimatum to the owner: find occupants for the building or tear it down.
"We want to impact the Lake Norman area so powerfully that if we were to go away, people would grieve and realize something was missing."
—JOSH BLACKSON, Operations Pastor and Uptown Campus Campus Pastor, Elevation Church, Charolette, NC.
A temporary solution
To give them credit, the owners tried. Working with various local arts groups, a concept was developed through which some of the theaters would be renovated into spaces for performing arts groups, artists’ galleries, and community meeting space. The plans satisfied the town, and a few groups used the space.
During the same time period (2008-2009), Elevation Church in Charlotte was in its third year and experiencing rapid growth. Launched in 2006 with a single campus in South Charlotte, Elevation opened a second campus, also in South Charlotte, in 2007. In 2008 they launched a third campus in Uptown Charlotte.
In my role as a consultant, I had already met several of the Elevation staff including Josh Blackson, operations pastor and uptown campus pastor. [Blackson] was first a friend and then became my pastor when my wife and I became a part of the Uptown Campus in 2009.
With continued rapid growth and large numbers of attendees coming down from the Lake Norman section of town, the church began seriously considering a location in the area. At the time, all Elevation campuses were portable, meeting in a couple of high schools and a theater. According to Blackson, “We were trying to be in the Lake Norman area for more [than four] years in a portable location. We just weren’t able to find anything that met our criteria. Our eyes were on the Palace Theater as an available building to be renovated, but our priorities were in South Charlotte where growth was exploding and overcrowding was a huge issue.”
Elevation took out a long-term lease on a commercial building for its first permanent building in late 2009, allowing it to move out of one of the high schools. In 2010, the Blakeney campus became the second permanent campus, to alleviate overflow capacity in the South Charlotte area. In 2011, the church opened two additional portable campuses—University and Rock Hill. Then 2012 brought the seventh Elevation campus, again, a portable campus in Gaston.Back at the Palace Theater, most of the space was not being used. Even with partial occupation, the problems continued in and around the theater. Jesse Agnew, a local police officer and also an attendee at Elevation University, says that “hearing dispatch mention 8325 Copley Drive meant the worst—it was consistently the site of illegal and inappropriate activity.”
That all changed in the summer of 2013, however, when Elevation Church announced it had completed purchase of the Palace Theater property, and was moving ahead with plans to completely renovate it as Elevation’s third permanent campus, and tenth overall, to open in 2014.
While the Lake Norman area had always remained on Elevation’s expansion plan, the urgent needs of the South Charlotte area meant it was delayed for a season. According to Blackson, “Now, we have the opportunity to see what God would have us do in the Lake Norman area AND relieve the overcrowding of the University and Uptown locations.”###2###
The first positive action? “Ever since 8325 Copley Drive became the address of the new Elevation Lake Norman campus,” Agnew reports, “this property has been claimed by Elevation, and the illegal activities have disappeared.”
Permanent campus no. 3
Now the owner of a building with a sound shell but an interior in need of a dramatic renovation, Elevation’s expansion team, led by Blackson, moved into gear and turned to a group of familiar faces: the architecture firm LS3P Associates Ltd., with a local office in Charlotte, N.C., and AV integrator AE Global, also of Charlotte, both of whom were involved in the Blakeney campus project. Local Edifice Inc., general contractors, joined the team as well, [and were] the original builders of the Palace Theater.
Hoping to launch Easter 2014, construction at Elevation Lake Norman stayed ahead of schedule, with the actual launch happening the weekend of January 11-12, 2014.
Nathan Daniel, project architect for LS3P, reports, “Lessons learned from the Blakeney project enabled us to work with other familiar team members who also knew the Elevation culture, and how flow and worship experiences worked. We were able to take the same tasks and move them to the Lake Norman project.”
Bryan Knupp, senior vice president of Edifice General Contractors, adds, “Repurposing a facility we built years ago brings a mix of emotion: as we began to gut the interior of the theater I was saddened by the short life this facility saw after such care was put into its original construction. [Then, as we neared] the completion of the new house of worship, I [was] proud of the new purpose this facility will serve and the lives that will be changed for eternity.”
Trey Blair, project manager for AE Global, says, “Many clients will tell you what they want but until you understand what weekend expectations are, it’s hard to deliver. We have been involved in the Blakeney build out, upfits at the Matthews campus, and in five portable campus projects. Each time we [learned] lessons from the Elevation team and what they wanted to do. Close coordination like that [allowed] us to accelerate the schedule and still deliver the high level of quality Elevation [expected].”
Adaptive reuse in action
[Just weeks away from its opening], Elevation Lake Norman was already having an impact on the community. In addition to solving the crime issue, at the re-zoning hearing before the local town board, commissioners listened as Elevation attendees [from] other campuses spoke about how the excitement and opportunities to serve their own community would be realized. The re-zoning and subsequent inspections had gone “beyond expectations,” according to Blackson.
Over the past 15 years, I have seen that corner of our community go from [an] empty field to [a] busy theater to [an] empty shell and [then come] back to life again. When I asked what influence Elevation Lake Norman would be having in three years, Blackson responded, “We want to impact the Lake Norman area so powerfully that if we were to go away, people would grieve and realize something was missing.”
No one really missed the Palace Theater—but Elevation Church isn’t about a building. As a part of Elevation Lake Norman, it’s my responsibility to fulfill our vision “so that people far from God will be raised to life in Christ.”###4###
