Although the heavy machinery made it on site around Feb. 10, it wasn’t until the following week that the ground clearing began on a longtime dream.
Weather delayed the process, but Tyrone Butler experienced a familiar feeling when he saw the machinery and the work crew appear on the site of what will be a 142-seat theater on the Augusta Mini Theatre campus on Deans Bridge Road.
“When it happened, it was emotional. I felt warm inside like ‘this is really happening,” said Butler, who founded the arts program and school almost 50 years ago.
The students and their families also experienced that excitement and joy, he said.
On Oct. 8, 1975, Butler started the Augusta Mini Theatre with one event – a “Johnny Carson Show” type program – at the Wallace Branch Library, and it’s grown over the years. The organization called an Eighth Street space home for years before opening its Deans Bridge Road campus in 2008.
“This has been a 25-year project,” he said. “It took us about 10 years to get the building that we’ve got.”
The plan is for the theater to be finished in late summer/early fall so a grand celebration can take place during the week of the 50th anniversary.
A committee is working on the celebration’s details, but Butler expects some type of showcase of the current students as well as a tribute to some of the program’s alumni. He anticipates events on the actual founding date, which is a Wednesday, as well as the weekend.
In addition to the theater construction, the current building is expected to receive a few upgrades. The Augusta Mini Theatre received a grant that will go toward floor refurbishment and new carpeting.
Tours of the current facility will also be part of the festivities.
Butler said there might be a few surprises as well.
The projected cost is about $2.4 million. Donations are still being accepted for the non-profit organization to support its programs and operation.
Butler is also looking to 2026. It’s been two years since he directed a Martin Luther King Jr. Day program, but he wants to do one next January.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
