EMark Gresham | 17 FEB 2026
ATLANTA, Georgia— The Atlanta Opera marked a pivotal moment in its 47-year history on Monday, February 16, 2026, with a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts in Buckhead’s Atlanta Memorial Park under the company’s famous “Big Tent” graced by invitingly warm weather and a clear sky.
The private, invitation-only event signaled the start of construction on the $64 million adaptive reuse project that will transform the historic Bobby Jones Clubhouse — a 1941 Grecian Revival structure built by the Works Progress Administration and associated with legendary golfer Bobby Jones — into a modern, community-oriented hub.
Located on Woodward Way adjacent to the Atlanta BeltLine’s Northwest Trail and Peachtree Creek, the facility will feature a 200-seat nature-inspired recital hall (Rosemary Hall) for intimate performances such as recitals, jazz, cabarets, and chamber music; a 200-seat immersive theater venue (The Atlanta Opera Theater) for smaller-scale operas, musicals, plays, and other events; rehearsal spaces, administrative offices, education areas, a costume shop, and landscaped gardens.
Designed by Post Loyal (led by Allen Post) with acoustics expertise from a’kustiks LLC and development support from Theater Projects, the project emphasizes environmental stewardship. It includes floodplain improvements, rain gardens, bioretention ponds for creek rehabilitation and flood mitigation, preservation of legacy trees, and a net increase in tree canopy through partnerships like Trees Atlanta. The site spans about 4.7 acres of green space with new parking provisions, ensuring minimal traffic impact (projected maximum of 60 patron vehicles per event).
The initiative is anchored by a transformative $27.5 million leadership gift from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in late 2024 – split between $25 million for capital development and $2.5 million to sustain the Molly Blank Discoveries Series, which introduces innovative works to broader audiences. The center honors Molly Blank, Arthur Blank’s mother, a dancer and sculptor who loved opera, theater, and music in Atlanta and New York. Arthur Blank described the naming as a fitting tribute to her belief in the power of the arts to bring joy and healing.
For The Atlanta Opera, founded in 1979 and now recognized as one of America’s most exciting companies, the center represents its first permanent headquarters. It will enable expanded artistic growth, education programs, community engagement, and operational stability beyond its current mainstage home at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Carl W. Knobloch, Jr, General & Artistic Director, Tomer Zvulun called it “a state-of-the-art facility in this park setting” that will serve as a creative source for musicians and audiences alike.
For Atlanta, the project positions the city as a more vibrant cultural destination by establishing the first headquarters of an arts organization along the 22-mile BeltLine loop. It enhances public access to the arts in a greenspace-linked setting, supports neighborhood revitalization in Buckhead near Haynes Manor, and contributes to broader quality-of-life improvements through sustainable design and community programming.
Initial site work is set to begin February 23, 2026, with vertical construction starting in June 2026. Substantial completion is targeted for October 2027, and full opening is expected in Winter 2027/28.
At the late afternoon ceremony marking the groundbreaking of the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts, speakers repeatedly framed the project as both a turning point for The Atlanta Opera and a broader civic investment in Atlanta’s cultural future.
General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun described the moment as the second major “inflection point” in the company’s history, the first having come in 2020, when the organization continued performing during the COVID-19 shutdown. Those outdoor productions, mounted in partnership with public-health leaders, drew national attention and accelerated the company’s growth.
“Today is the second inflection point in the history of the Atlanta Opera,” Zvulun said, calling the new center an example of leadership that pushes beyond perceived limits. Using the metaphor of the “Overton Window,” he argued that institutions must sometimes do more than adjust to changing circumstances. “They don’t just move the window—they remove it,” he said. “They break through the wall and embrace what is possible in the future.”
Zvulun emphasized that the new facility would be measured not by the ceremony itself but by what audiences experience there in years to come. “People may not remember this ceremony,” he said, “but they will remember what happens to them inside these walls—the music, the inspiration, the joy, the way art changes how they see the world.”
Board chair John Haupert focused his remarks on the collaborative effort behind the project, thanking fellow board members, staff, construction and design teams, and community partners who helped bring the plan to fruition. He characterized the center as the result of sustained collective work rather than any single vision.
“Nothing about this project has been the work of one person, one committee, or one idea,” Haupert said. “It’s been a shared effort, built over time by many hands, many minds, and a great deal of trust.” He added that the project reflected a broader principle: “Great institutions are built the same way great buildings are built—through collaboration, trust, and a shared commitment to something bigger than any one of us.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens placed the project within the historical context of the site, which includes the former Bobby Jones Clubhouse. He recalled the civil-rights case brought by golfer Alfred “Tup” Holmes, whose successful lawsuit desegregated Atlanta’s public recreational facilities.
“It is fitting that this entire site is being restored and reimagined as a place where all Atlantans can come together again—this time for music, storytelling, and live performance,” Dickens said.
The mayor also acknowledged the role of philanthropy, particularly the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and reflected on the legacy of Molly Blank, for whom the center is named. “When you invest in the arts, you invest in people and in the future of a city,” he said.
Looking ahead, Dickens described the center as part of Atlanta’s continuing evolution as both a cultural and economic destination. He noted its location on the Atlanta BeltLine and argued that projects of this kind help define how residents and visitors experience the city.
“The arts are economic drivers,” Dickens said. “They support tourism and hospitality, fuel small businesses, and shape how the world sees this city and how residents feel about living here.”
Together, the speakers portrayed the Molly Blank Center not only as a new home for opera but as a long-term investment in community life, education, and the cultural identity of Atlanta—one shaped, as Haupert put it, by “what’s possible when a community leads together.”
This milestone underscores Atlanta’s ongoing investment in its cultural landscape, blending historic preservation with forward-thinking innovation.
Following the remarks, 31 representatives of the State of Georgia, City of Atlanta, and community, arts, and philanthropic leaders gathered onstage, 13 of them in front of the stage with shovels and hard hats to execute the symbolic shovel turns and pose for photos.
Later in the evening, a “Partnership Celebration” concluded the day’s events with cocktails, a performance by singers from The Atlanta Opera Studio Artists, and a final champagne toast. ■
Video: Groundbreaking celebration for The Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts, February 16, 2026
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About the author:
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. He began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.
Read more by Mark Gresham.
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