REDEMPTION AND RENOVATION: ELEVATION CHURCH LAKE NORMAN
If the renovation of the old Palace Theater were a Hollywood film, it would be a classic redemption story. Upstanding local citizen falls upon hard times. Takes a few knocks, and stumbles. Endures a season of despair. A kindhearted stranger offers words of encouragement and a hand up. The struggling hero rises. Our protagonist goes on to achieve greatness. In its earliest iteration, the Palace Theater was one of the first cinemas in the Charlotte area with stadium seating. Built in 1998 in Cornelius, a suburb north of the city, the Palace featured a dozen screens and anchored one end of a mixed-use development. When competition grew fierce, the Palace was shuttered, and fell into disrepair along with the rest of the flagging development. With limited business and too much empty space, the complex began to attract the kind of undesirable activity that made the police dread calls from the address.
The Palace was down and out.
ELEVATION CHURCH BLAKENEY / CHARLOTTE NC
Enter Elevation Church, a congregation founded in 2006 experiencing explosive growth. Having rapidly expanded from its first portable campus in South Charlotte to seven campuses, two of them permanent, Elevation was ready to put down roots on the north side of the city. Elevation saw in the Palace a diamond in the rough. The church purchased the building in 2013 with a vision to restore the space to an active and useful life.
As the narrative arc entered the “rebuilding” phase, the team found that Elevation had plenty of room for this vision41,600 SF, in fact, and every square foot needed attention. The ambitious program included a 1,200 seat auditorium with integrated audio/visual technology. The largest of its kind in the area, the auditorium was built to serve the community as a performance space outside of worship hours. Other program spaces include a children’s ministry wing, two 150-seat children’s performance theaters, a welcome area, spaces for gathering, and an AVL suite.
BEFORE
The old theater itself was structurally sound and had solid potential for adaptive reuse; however, renovations required a tight six-month construction time frame. The new design salvaged a majority of the structure and the exterior skin, with a goal of celebrating the history of the old theater while incorporating new elements consistent with Elevation’s branding and energy.
The design team collaborated with the church’s creative team to make sure the building reflected the church’s culture, inside and out. To serve as a lantern during evening hours, the team carved out an expansive double-height glazed entry lobby facing the newly revitalized streetscape. The inviting and distinctive entry is defined by a prominent horizontal band which evokes a sense of shelter, intersected by a unique vertical element with a vibrant orange slot serving as a contemporary steeple.
The interior layout maximizes the interior space, with the central auditorium occupying existing theater space to minimize structural changes. The light-filled lobby space connects the primary circulation corridors, utilizing sculptural lighting to animate the space. The eye-catching accent lighting design imbues the walls and ceilings with patterned light and a sense of texture. Children’s spaces feature lively colors and a sense of transparency with interior glass walls.
The resulting worship center is successful beyond expectations. In addition to achieving a rapid renovation which provided urgently-needed space, the new church has created a hub of community activity which has completely reinvigorated the blighted area. The church brings energy and activity to support adjacent businesses, offers shared spaces for performing arts events for the community, and activates a once-stagnant façade with a strong visual connection to the street. The old theater, raised from its dejected status, once again opens its doors wide to welcome visitors,. As the credits roll, we see Elevation Church awash in sunset light.
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