Home > Business Insider > Archives > 2008 > May > 19 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USAT&T gives $50,000 toward theater’s renovation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If one questions the value of leadership programs, just ask the Friends of the Strand in Marietta Square.
The group has until June 1 to raise a total of $500,000 to match a $500,000 challenge grant to name the theater after longtime Cobb leader Earl Smith.
AT&T is making a $50,000 donation towards that challenge grant, which means that the Friends of the Strand still need to raise $125,000 by the end of the month.
So how did the AT&T gift come about? Debbie Abernathy, Earl Smith’s grand-daughter, is in this year’s Leadership Cobb’s class with Don Barbour, regional manager of External Affairs of AT&T Georgia.
The Strand, a theater that dates back to 1935, started as a movie house and stayed open until 1976. Cobb leaders have been working to renovate the Strand for the past several years so it can hold live performances as well as show classic and independent films.
Christy Rosell, spokeswoman for the Friends of the Strand, said that the total renovation will total $4.5 million. If it is able to raise the $125,000 by June 1 for the naming rights, it still will need another $1.2 million to complete the renovation.
The Strand is supposed to open by the end of the year as long as the remaining money is raised.
Comments
By zeke
May 20, 2008 10:03 AM | Link to this
These “gifts” by such companies as AT&T, Southern Co, Ga. Power and others should be constitutionally illegal! Those excess monies should be returned to their customers if they are abouve and beyond the needs of the companies, not given away to gain good publicity!
By Brian
May 20, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this
Well…there you go Zeke, now everyone knows what a moron you are.
By Shell
May 21, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this
How about some of the athletes in the metro area who make millions? Are any of them philanthropists in the community???
By brad
May 21, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this
No kidding Zeke. Customers agreed to pay the price of phone service and now with profits the company they are supposed to refund the money. Why clutter the constitution with corporate tax BS?
Your comment was spoken like a true socialist/communist.
By Dave
May 22, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this
And the price of the services are regulated by the PSC. They don’t get to choose how much to charge a customer like most businesses. They cannot raise prices to offset the rise in gas prices like most companies do.
By Dave
May 22, 2008 2:45 PM | Link to this
And the price of the services are regulated by the PSC. They don’t get to choose how much to charge a customer like most businesses. They cannot raise prices to offset the rise in gas prices like most companies do.
By denver
May 27, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this
Has it occurred to anyone that the Strand is a privately owned piece of real estate. These donations serve to enrich the owner of the strand by paying to improve his property. When it’s sold, the owner will benefit from the value added during the renovation. I’m going to start a non-profit to pay for my kitchen remodel.
By Brian
June 2, 2008 4:18 PM | Link to this
Why are we discussing names for the Strand Theater? Isn’t it already called “The Strand”?
By Dan
June 10, 2008 12:19 PM | Link to this
Good for At&T. I grew up in Marietta and loved going to see up and coming bands play for $5, I now live in SC and am hoping they get the Strand renovated so I can take my kids to see a piece of history and place where their daddy and uncle once hung out.