While it would have occasional live presentations and functions, the Dixie operated primarily as a motion picture house until 1967, when it was closed and shuttered.
The inside of the Dixie Theatre before its rejuvenationTime and the elements took their toll and the building began to deteriorate and collapse within itself.
In 1994 the property was purchased by Rex and Cleo Partington, who had spent their lives in live professional theater throughout the United States. Attempts were made to construct the building, as it had been. However, there was not enough remaining of the original structure to accomplish this.
The front wall, which had become hazardous, was taken down and the property was cleared.
Front of the Dixie Theatre as it appears todayThe New Dixie Theatre was designed, the plans were drawn and construction begun in the Spring of 1997.
In keeping with the Historic District, every effort was made to replicate, the original Dixie Theatre. The front facade of the building was replicated, and the original ticket booth was restored by Clark Holmes, after being donated to the theatre by Wesley Chesnut.
The building was completed at the end of June, 1998, and the New Dixie Theatre opened for its Inaugural Summer Season in July with the play "Sylvia" by A.R. Gurney. It was followed by the Pulitzer Prize winner "Driving Miss Daisy" by Alfred Urey.
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