The Strand Theatre has been a fixture of the Marietta Square for more than 70 years, but 2009 marked a new year for the revitalized performing arts house. Almost six years ago, the theatre was in disrepair and looking for a new tenant - any tenant. Well, they got one.

Since its grand opening in January, the Earl Smith Strand Theatre has become home to almost 500 events and performances, including weddings, social gatherings, musical theater performances by its in-house company, the Atlanta Lyric Theatre, the world re-premiere of "Gone With the Wind" and such musical acts as Pam Tillis and jazz legend Freddy Cole. This greatly outnumbers the 100 events the Strand's Board of Directors asked theater staff to host in its first year.

The theater will celebrate its success and gratitude toward the community that saved it by hosting a three-day long celebration Jan. 8 through 10. The Strand on Jan. 8 will play host to several local performers before the main event, the showing of the 1927 film "The General" begins, accompanied by organist Ron Carter on the Strand's Mighty Theatre Organ. The next day will be a collaboration of perfoming groups for it's "Icing on the Cake" show and black tie gala. The 10th will conclude the celebration with 13 performing arts groups taking the stage to showcase snippets of their talents.

The renovation process has been expensive and time-consuming, but the Friends of the Strand non-profit organization and several Cobb County residents have come together to save what could have been a beautiful theater house lost in history.

But the fundraising efforts are not over yet.

The Strand's director of business development and marketing, Christy Rosell, said $2 million is still needed to cover the remainder of the original original loan.

Scott Gregory, vice chair of the Friends of the Strand and chair of the capital campaign committee, said the original $5.7 million loan was taken out to cover start-up costs and renovations, and monthly revenues have been used to cover the loan's interest.

"We expect to raise $400,000 by September, and it's tough in this economy, but people have been so generous in making the Strand what it is today," Rosell said. "I think because we're doing really well on the operations side, though, people just assume the fundraising is over. But it certainly isn't."

Rosell said the theater still has 700 commemorative bricks available that can be purchased for $250 per 4-by-8 inch brick or $1,500 for an 8-by-8 inch brick. The bricks are showcased outside of the theater underneath the Strand's marquee. Fewer than 100 theater seat plaques, which alone raised $400,000 in cash before and after the theater's construction phase, are left to be dedicated at a cost of $1,000 each.

Two local donors with their own seat plaques, Mary Lou Stephens and Pat Chilton of Marietta, have seen the Strand go from a thriving movie house to a deteriorating, vacant eyesore to the vibrant performing arts and social center it is today.

"Coming down here for a movie as a teenager was a real treat," Chilton said, as she graced her arms across a seat in the Strand's auditorium. "Being back here is almost a step back in time. Once you come once, you want to come back, and if you see people coming out of the theater, you always see smiling faces."

"The talent was here in Cobb, and we knew it, but now the general public knows it. And the intimacy of the theatre makes it very welcoming and inviting. You make friends quickly; there's just something so magical about it," Stephens said. "When they first started their fundraising efforts, many feared they were going to make everything too grandiose and would never get the money they needed, but then I think people started feeling that magic and things just came together beautifully."

Ted Arpon, owner and manager of Sugar Cakes Patisserie three shops down from the Square, said the Strand's success has trickled down to his own eatery.

"Before, I was only open for breakfast and lunch, but five months ago, I decided to open on Friday and Saturday nights for dinner," Arpon said. "The Strand's events have done wonders for my business. People come in before a show, but then I notice they'll come back even when there's not a show. It has really made this whole block of the Square come alive."