08 Oct Booth House to move to make way for MadLife
Woodstock’s past is making way for its future as a new business breaks ground at the site of a historic house set to be moved.
Owners of MadLife Stage and Studios held an official groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 16 as the company looks forward to plans to move the historic E.T. Booth House and begin construction on their business in downtown Woodstock.
Before construction efforts can begin for MadLife Stage and Studios, the historical E.T. Booth House will be moved on the same property to the back lot off of Market Street. The move has been delayed due to existing overhead powerlines, and most recently, the rain has caused delays with excavation and pouring new footings, MadLife owner Mike Levi said, adding the house could be moved later this week.
Plans for the Booth house call for it to be a bed and breakfast facility.
“We are going to pick it up, turn it 180 degrees and place it on Market Street. Our goal is to keep it the way it was with history and memorabilia of my grandfather, who lived to be 98, and grandmother, who lived to be 103,” said Smith Johnston, the E.T. Booth House owner and grandson of original owners.
The house, built in 1940 by Eugene Theodore Booth and his wife, Lucy, was home to a well-known educator, pastor and resident of Cherokee County.
E.T. Booth began teaching in Cherokee County in 1914, historic records show. After World War I, Booth became the principal at Woodstock School from 1921 to 1937 and was named Cherokee County superintendent of schools from 1938 to 1944.
Now, E.T. Booth Middle School in Woodstock carries his name, and the well-known mural in downtown Woodstock contains his image.
“The community will gain by having a preserved building and the history of the family which is ultimately the heritage of Woodstock,” Johnston said. “They will also have a very nice place to stay in Woodstock; Woodstock is such an incredible place. It is important for people to be able to walk to and from the community around them.”
Johnston agreed to work with Levi to preserve the house.
“E.T. Booth raised four kids here, one of which was my mom,” Johnston said, who now lives in Houston, Texas, and works as a NASA physician. “We are transitioning here over the next year. Our hope is to fix it up and have it as a very nice bed and breakfast. For those staying there, it is a history lesson and a beautiful place to stay.”
MadLife Stage and Studios has three facets to it, according to Levi. The live performance center, the video production and the bar and grill.
“The live performance area will be able to seat 225 people, but we will also be able to pull tables out and have larger capacity,” Levi said. “We are going to have operating studios in the back. We will be capturing as many live performances as we can, not just in audio but in high-resolution video as well, so that magic can live on and be enjoyed by others.”
Taking up 25 percent of the building, the studios will be used by musicians for recording, tracking and mastering. The studios will have acoustic glass so everyone will be able to see when performances are being recorded.
“Those two components work together, the live performances and the studios,” Levi said. “We hope to have great music events there as often as possible.”
The front portion of the facility will be a bar and grill with a patio. The patio will have the ability to connect to the indoor area, and the bar and grill area will lead into the performance venue through a ticket lobby.
Keeping the historical nature alive throughout the property, MadLife Stage and Studios has decided to reuse wood from a large tree at the front of the property which has been deemed as non-specimen, unhealthy and a safety hazard from two arborists and was set to be taken down.
“Since we will have a patio right there, we obviously cannot take risks for our patrons and the residents of Woodstock. It was bad news, but with some good encouragement from Smith, I recognized that MadLife is a pretty big facility and we have a lot of needs for great wood.”
Throughout the 9,000-square-foot building, MadLife Stage and Studios will feature the wood as bar tops, tabletops, chairs and benches while saving the character of the tree, Levi said. To replace the one tree, MadLife Stage and Studios will be planting about 18 trees on the property.
There will also be an outdoor sculpture done on the site by artist Troy Brazie to place outside of the business.
“The city has been wonderful to work with. The mayor has been instrumental in saving the house,” Levi said. “It is going to be acoustically correct inside, meaning we will be containing our music, as well as keep sounds from the outside from getting in. We do not expect that we will disturb any of the residents here at all.”
He said the company is looking forward to being part of the community.
“We just want to give people a tremendous variety of live music options and the excitement of knowing the events they are attending is being captured live,” Levi added. “We are hoping to create a real sense of being a part of something bigger.”
By Kayla Elder – The Cherokee Ledger-News
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
