Atlanta Opera to Build New $45 Million Arts Center

The center will feature a 200-seat recital hall as well as education spaces, rehearsal rooms, and offices

The Atlanta Opera recently announced plans to transform the existing Bobby Jones Clubhouse into a brand-new arts center that will feature a recital hall, theater venue, education and community spaces, rehearsal areas, and administrative offices.

A 1900s building, the clubhouse is located in a green space on the Atlanta Beltline, in the north-western part of the city. The Atlanta Opera will collaborate with Haynes Manor Foundation, the Peachtree Battle Alliance, and the Atlanta Memorial Park Conservancy to bring the plans to fruition.

The Grecian facade of the clubhouse will be retained, but the 17,000 square-foot building will be expanded to 56,000 square feet, in order to house a 200-seat concert hall — among many other things. The space will be used for chamber operas, but also for other community events such as recitals, jazz, cabarets, lectures, and spoken-word artists. The company will continue to host its mainstage productions in the larger Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.

The new complex is due for completion in Summer 2027.

"This new, permanent home for The Atlanta Opera ensures the right fit for our current and future growth," said Tomer Zvulun, General & Artistic Director of the Atlanta Opera. "A state-of-the-art facility in this park setting will be a source of creativity for our local and visiting musicians. It is perfectly positioned to help us serve audiences and collaborators in our beautiful city and beyond."

"The Atlanta Opera has become known not only as one of the finest opera companies in the U.S. but also as a well-managed and financially sound business," said Rhys Wilson, chair of the Atlanta Opera’s board.

"This is the company that safely presented live opera during the pandemic and still presented a balanced budget for the last eight years. The open and welcoming design of this building emphasizes the same values we held during the pandemic and that we will always espouse — of being a skillfully managed organization dedicated to making beautiful music available to everyone, everywhere."