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Southeast Alabama Community Players, Inc.
d/b/a Southeast Alabama Community Theatre
aka SEACT
EIN: 23-7432150
909 S. Saint Andrews Street
Dothan, Ala. 36301
(334) 794-0400 (message only)
SEACT.com
Hey - what's up
at SEACT?
Mission: Southeast Alabama Community Theatre (SEACT) has a mission to enrich the cultural lives of Wiregrass residents through the presentation of high quality theatre, to provide creative opportunities to talented individuals to perform on stage and behind the scenes, and to introduce the theatrical experience to school-aged children.
SEACT's Next Act: Operations & Performance Facility
Southeast Alabama Community Theatre (SEACT) serves the Wiregrass area including Houston, Henry, Dale, Coffee, and Geneva counties. Based on visits and attendance, Visit Dothan 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 community organization that has served three generations of families through theatre, education, and social connections. Students from 1980 sent their grandchildren to SEACT camps in 2025!
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 visiting more than 20,000 times 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.
Since 2002, SEACT has been consistently the largest and most active tenant of the city-owned Cultural Arts Center, requiring the use of multiple performance spaces and classrooms. 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 between the city and the Cultural Arts Center organization would expire in 2027, and the entities living there would need to find a way forward.
SEACT has invested $475,000 in property (2018-2021), preparing for its Next Act. These include parcels at or near 285 S. Foster St., 251 S. Foster St., and 110 E. Crawford St.
SEACT’s Board of Directors (2023/2024) prioritized the design and planning of a dedicated facility that would 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.
The project directly advances SEACT’s 2024–2026 Strategic Plan, which identified 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.
SEACT's Next Act: A Generous Community
The Wiregrass community has already made a difference! Through community and grant support, SEACT secured property, and commissioned a master design plan. In the fall of 2024, SEACT engaged Gosselin Architecture to create a master design plan for the multiple properties owned in downtown Dothan at a cost of $9,225. SEACT selected 251 S. Foster Street as Phase I of a long-term plan, engaging Gosselin Architecture in a contract for $180,000. 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.
SEACT expects to break ground for the renovation/construction in January 2026. The property at 251 S. Foster Street has been designated a brownfields development by the State of Alabama. To date, SEACT has begun interior demolition and is finalizing design and construction documents. In May 2025, SEACT received a State of Alabama appropriation of $750,000 toward additional construction costs. SEACT expects to finance up to $1M to ensure the project is completed by summer 2027.
SEACT's Next Act: Future Vision
SEACT envisions the Phase I facility as a welcoming and accessible purpose-built structure with a dedicated rehearsal/performance space that will serve as a bridge to a future Phase II. This renovation will replace 35% of space used currently in the Cultural Arts Center. Phase II would include a state of the art performance venue, additional rehearsal space, storage of properties, classrooms, administrative support spaces, and support for other area arts-related nonprofit organizations.
The total estimated cost of Phase I at 251 S. Foster Street, including property, design, and construction, is $3,115,000. We are more than halfway there!
SEACT is positioned to accept major gifts through legacy planning, IRA charitable distributions, appreciated stock, and cash donations. How can you help secure SEACT's future for the next 50 years?
Call or text 334-805-0149 for more information.
Supported by
State of Alabama
Alabama State Council on the Arts
APEC Metal & Metal Express
Roben & Lisbeth Ash
Elaine Brown
Michael & Tiffany Clardy
Mike & Jennifer Doherty
Donofro Architects
Sigrid & David Gayle
David & Nancy Hanks
Hayne & Cindy Hollis
In Honor of Elaine Johnson
by Carrie & Bryan Kurlander
Larry & Katherine Knight
Paul & Ellen Lee
Julian Mathison
Alex & Tara Murphree
Lynn Smilie Nesbitt
Eric & Dana Peel
Sue Reynolds
Mary Helen & Danny Richards
Verna & J.E. Saliba
Brian & Kendell Shows
Kendall & Bob Sirkis
Liz Smyth
In Memory of Bobby Strowd
by Ivy Jernigan
Anita Sullivan
Nina & Tom Thomas
Ricki Walker
Buddy Wax
Wiregrass RC&D Council
Shawn & Teri Wittenborn
Patrick Wright
Walter & Debra Young
Space naming and stewardship opportunities are available for significant contributors to the Phase I project. Valuation, donor recognition, and stewardship will reflect values and practices that are executed in other areas of SEACT with donors, i.e. promptly sent written receipts, ongoing cultivation and impact reporting, etc. Board and staff will assign well-informed values for spaces that are available for naming opportunities, to include the cost of the facilities and a percentage of appropriate, ongoing maintenance costs. These will include actual cost, visibility, usage, and perceived value.
Valuations and term lengths will reflect the need for ongoing support, and the useful life of a building or space. Some gift agreements may require a sunset clause, and the allowable years to fulfill a pledge may vary by space and use.
Sample Recognition Table
