By Michael Butler

Tallassee’s Mount Vernon Theatre is now the Mount Vernon Performing Arts Center.

The building, which originally opened in 1935, has opened its doors again with several renovations including new cushioned seats.

“The seats were so hard,” said co-owner Joey Wiginton, who went into the venture with Barry Wigington (his son) and Bill Patterson. “We’re adding some glitz to it.”

The theater was restored and opened in January of 2018 after decades of inactivity. Events were held over the course of the next two years, but it closed its doors again in December of 2019.

“We got a call from one of the bankers,” Wigington said. “We didn’t want it to be an apartment complex or warehouse. So, we decided to belly up and come up with the money to make it work.”

A variety of offerings from movies to stage shows will be available in the new year.

“We do want people to buy popcorn,” Wiginton said. “We’ve got fountain drinks, hotdogs, chips and candy.”

“We really want to do weddings there. We’ve got Elvis coming in August.”