Background
Chattanooga’s Tivoli Theatre, “the Jewel of the South,” opened its doors to the public in 1921 as a state-of-the-art performance space. Built as a smaller-scale replica of Chicago’s Tivoli Theatre, this 1,750-seat entertainment hall was the first public building in the south, and one of the first in the country, to install an air conditioning system. After decades of success, the theatre’s performance steadily declined through the 1950s as more modern movie theatres started to open in the city. The city took control of the building in early 1961 and reopened the space in 1963 as Chattanooga’s new Cultural Center.
The transformation into a Cultural Center was hailed as the beginning of revitalization in Chattanooga’s downtown area and the space was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2015, the city of Chattanooga created the nonprofit Tivoli Theatre Foundation to operate the venue and to lead fundraising efforts to repair the building. The theatre was closed in 2022 to begin the full restoration.
The Trigg-Smartt building adjacent to the Tivoli Theatre was built in 1889 as a commercial space. The building was named after the original tenants, Trigg Dobbs & Company, a wholesale grocer, and Smartt Brothers & Company, a wholesale shoes and boots company. Trigg-Smartt was owned and operated by these two companies until 1911 when James Trigg sold his portion of the building to James Smartt and vacated the building. Smartt Brothers & Company continued to operate in the building until the death of Smartt in 1913. After his death, the business vacated the building and welcomed a variety of commercial tenants through the years. One of those tenants included the Fowler Brothers Furniture Company, the largest furniture company in Tennessee, which occupied the building until 1985. The Trigg-Smartt building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The Project
Once complete, the restoration and renovation will join these two historic downtown structures to create a state-of-the-art performing arts center to support the city’s arts community. In addition to upgrading the original theatre in the Tivoli building, the development efforts will create a new 190-seat cinema and studio called the “Bobby Stone Theatre.” The new combined Tivoli and Trigg-Smartt space will include an expanded lobby, a restaurant, six bar spaces, additional event areas, and upgrades to all service and mechanical systems, including bathrooms, HVAC, and more. Outside, the iconic marquee will be restored and modernized to light up the city streets once again.
The Tivoli Theatre Foundation is planning on expanding partnerships with organizations like the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, the Chattanooga Ballet, and the Chattanooga Boys Choir for new and expanded event programming, as well as partnerships with area schools to host summer camps and training intensives for teachers. Tivoli Foundation’s summer camps will offer performance and technical intensives for students grades K-12 and will provide scholarships to students in need of financial assistance. Around 300 teachers annually will have the opportunity to participate in arts-integrated teacher training cohorts and continuing education opportunities that will better equip teachers in Hamilton County to integrate the arts into their classrooms. With a variety of partnerships and programming geared toward Chattanooga’s students and educators, there’s no doubt that the expansion and renovation of the theater will help provide extensive arts-focused opportunities for the city’s youth.
Learn more about the Tivoli Theatre
COMMUNITY IMPACT
The Tivoli Theatre will continue to function as a hub of culture and community by expanding access to the arts for Chattanooga’s residents and providing educational opportunities for students and teachers alike. Financing provided by NTCIC will enable the theatre to provide reduced-cost tickets and programming for low-income children and families. Once renovations are complete, the new and enhanced venue will provide more space and accommodation to expand partnerships with other area arts organizations and schools. The Tivoli Theatre will provide larger space for the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Young People’s Concert program, which pairs orchestras with students in grades 3–5 to explore orchestral repertoire and fundamental musical skills, including creative work and composition, through a hands-on music curriculum. The larger theatre space will host more performances by the Chattanooga Ballet and Chattanooga Boys Choir and expand the touring children’s theatre program. Once complete, these partnerships will support more than 25,000 additional students each year.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The $73 million revitalization was supported, in part, by NTCIC through an equity investment in the $12.5 million federal Historic Tax Credits generated by the project. NTCIC also provided $9 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocation, which helped lower the capital campaign burden, covered additional financing gaps, and ensured expanded access to shows and programming for low-income individuals.
In addition to the tax credit financing provided by NTCIC, the project will be funded by a $20+ million capital campaign by the foundation and nearly $12 million in PACE financing dedicated to energy-efficient upgrades.
The Tivoli Theatre has historically played a significant role in downtown Chattanooga’s economic and community development. Once renovated, the expanded venue will host over 100 events annually between the restored Tivoli Theatre and the new Bobby Stone Theatre, representing an annual increase of over 32,000 patrons and a nearly 60% increase in revenue within five years of the project’s reopening.