1083 Austin Ave

Staff

Board Members

History

In 1919, Moreland Elementary School opened its doors to educate the children of the Inman Park and Candler Park neighborhoods. After 63 years, the school board decided to close its doors.  At this time, in 1982, several community groups, primarily led by WRFG Radio, asked for a 10 year lease on the closed school building located at 1083 Austin Ave NE in Atlanta. The school board agreed to lease the building and then eventually sold the building to the new non-profit corporation set up to own and manage the building, the Little Five Points Center for Arts and Community.

Early on, the Center attracted a theater company called Horizon Theatre Company, as well as, a major community Arts organization called Euclid Arts Collective.  The Euclid Arts Collective has produced and sheltered many of Atlanta’s most promising and accomplished visual artists. In addition to Arts organization, the Center attracted important community organizations such as the Georgia Solar Coalition and Metro Fair Housing Services.

The Center has become a major factor in the community just as planned. Neighbors, funders, neighborhood organizations, and the general public around the Metro Atlanta area are involved in the Center.

Mission

In 1919 the present building opened its doors as the new Moreland Elementary School, replacing the former “Neel Academy” site on Moreland Avenue. It served the Inman and Candler Park communities as a public school continuously through 1982, with as many as 900 students enrolled in 1928. After the school closed in 1982, the building attracted the attention of struggling non-profit organizations.

In the fall of 1982 the L5PCC, Inc. leased the building from the Atlanta School Board and set up operations with a mission to support arts, cultural, and community service organizations in the Little 5 Points area of Atlanta. We have continued to contribute to the stability of the in-town arts community and to the growth of community cultural organizations. As a successful experiment in adaptive reuse of older school buildings, L5PCC, Inc., purchased the site from the Atlanta School Board in 1995.

A non-profit entity, L5PCC, Inc., is managed by a Board of Directors composed of tenant organizations, community leaders, and neighborhood representatives. Our resident companies are non-profit groups with a wide range of state-chartered charitable goals and federal tax exemptions.