What Could Have Been
By Avery Braxton
Our Civic & Community class started this project with some lofty goals: historic recognition of the building, locate an owner, generate interest in returning this to a productive use.
As our journey with the Roxy comes to a close, we can reminisce on the progress that we have made and the recognition brought to a landmark that arguably deserves more love than it’s gotten. However, as with many a large project, there were some pitfalls and obstacles that our class was unable to hurdle. Here are a few.
The children of the original owner, Phil Kaplan, were so young when he owned the Roxy that they didn’t have many vivid memories of this once thriving theater. Disappointing as that may have been, there was a bright spot. Kaplan’s daughter, Susan, was able to provide us with several pictures of the Roxy while it still operated. In the photos, one can see posters of movies that were playing at the time, as well as the names of actors on the large marquee. The pictures also provided some clues about transitions going on in the neighborhood that might have hastened the theater’s closing.
After the theater closed, Phil Kaplan entered a lease-purchase with the new owners — The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith. While the Church still operates in other cities, they are no longer in Macon. It appears the church hasn’t operated here for some time, but we couldn’t pinpoint when they may have stopped holding services. They are still listed in the phonebook but the number has been disconnected. We did, however, find a number for a branch of the Church in Atlanta and got in touch with a contact there. We were informed that the former Macon pastor is deceased. We were told the Church would try and find some more information, but we never heard back.
The original goal of this project was to have the Roxy historically marked, but that proved to be unattainable as well. Jeanne Cyriaque, the African American Programs Coordinator with the state Historic Preservation office, told us getting the Roxy (or any historic property) marked can take up to three years. There is an application fee that cost $5,000 and the owner must be on board and involved with the process. With the Roxy, we were not able to locate an owner — knocking the building out of a lot of potential help and recognition. You can read more about this part of the process in Historic Headaches.
Figuring out when the movies in the posters actually played at the Roxy proved to be difficult as well. As a group we were unable to find any media that gave any details as to when the movies were shown at the Roxy compared to when they were originally released. Several of our interviewees mentioned that the movies shown at the Roxy had often already run their course in the predominantly white theaters and then moved to the Roxy afterward.
While this information would have been helpful and advanced our efforts in our Roxy research, success is not measured in what you did not do. It’s based in what you were able to accomplish. This landmark has now been brought forward to the public spotlight, had its historical relevance evaluated, and has rekindled the memories of those who once walked its halls.
The Roxy is being remembered again. And that’s all we really wanted anyway.
The story was published from the collective work of students in the Civic and Community Journalism class at Mercer University.
