Southeast Alabama Community Players

Southeast Alabama Community Theatre (SEACT) serves the Wiregrass area including Houston, Henry, Dale, Coffee, and Geneva counties. Based on visits and attendance, VisitDothan estimates SEACT’s economic impact to the Dothan area at almost $1M annually. A SEACT event – audition, rehearsal, performance, class, committee, or meeting – occurs 300 days of the year. At fifty years old, SEACT is a legacy nonprofit organization that has served three generations of families through theatre, education, and social connections. Students from 1980 are sending their grandchildren to SEACT camps in 2025! Since 2002, SEACT has been consistently the largest and most active tenant, requiring the use of multiple performance spaces and classrooms at the Cultural Arts Center, a city-owned facility. The facility was initially intended to expand into a permanent home, but the maintenance and repairs on a 100+ year-old building far outweighed the funding ability of the center, and its tenants. In a culling of facility inventory, the city also lost its appetite for keeping the building in habitable condition. As early as 2016, It was understood that the lease would expire in 2027, and the organizations within would need to find a way forward. SEACT has invested $475,000 in property (2018-2021), preparing for a new chapter. SEACT’s Board of Directors has prioritized the design and planning of a dedicated facility that will sustain and expand its mission of enriching the cultural lives of Wiregrass residents through high-quality theatre and arts education. SEACT seeks funding for the construction phase of a new home for its operations and programming. The project has engaged Gosselin Architecture LLC to produce tangible design documents—including blueprints, schematics, renderings, and cost estimates—for the renovation of the “Mack Building,” a 6,854-square-foot structure located in downtown Dothan. The renovated facility will serve as a short-term (2–5 year) operational hub and long-term rehearsal/performance area with flexible lobby that can be used as classroom or meeting space. The design will address necessary structural and systems updates—including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, ADA accessibility, and asbestos abatement—and create an inviting, code-compliant, and functional arts environment. SEACT will ensure full ADA compliance with accessible entrances, restrooms, seating, and hearing assistance options, maintaining its long-standing commitment to inclusion and access. A cornerstone of SEACT’s impact is its broad community reach. In the 2023–2024 season, SEACT engaged more than 6,400 participants and audience members including hundreds of students 3-12 grade, presenting main stage and student company productions, theatre classes, and workshops. Its programming builds artistic skills, fosters intergenerational collaboration, supports education, and strengthens community well-being by combating social isolation and promoting civic pride. The proposed project directly advances SEACT’s 2024–2026 Strategic Plan, which identifies relocation and facility design as top priorities for sustaining operations and community service. The design work will be completed within six to eight months (January–December 2025), providing the foundation for future construction. Ultimately, this project represents a critical step toward SEACT’s long-term vision: a dedicated arts facility that anchors downtown Dothan as a vibrant cultural destination, enhances access to theatre education for a five-county area, and secures SEACT’s role as a catalyst for creative and economic vitality in the Wiregrass region. Master Design Plan - In the fall of 2024, SEACT engaged Gosselin Architecture to create a master design plan for multiple properties owned in downtown Dothan at a cost of $9,225. 251 S. Foster Renovation Design/Documents - SEACT selected this location as Phase I of a long-term plan, engaging Gosselin Architecture in a contract for $180,000. To date, SEACT has paid $55,813 in fees. In March 2025, SEACT received a Creative Places design grant of $56,300 from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. The remaining balance will be paid in cash by SEACT. 251 S. Foster Renovation Construction - SEACT expects to break ground for the renovation/construction by January 2026. To date, SEACT has paid $7,560 in pursuit of brownfield designation for the site, and $22,500 in demolition costs. In May 2025, SEACT received a State of Alabama appropriation of $750,000 toward the construction costs. SEACT expects to finance up to $1M to ensure the project is completed by summer 2027.