ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Although it has stood vacant for years now, locals remember the Ritz Theater and Cultural Community Center, located in Albany’s Harlem District, fondly.

Adrian Jenkins owns a photography business in the Harlem District. As a child in the 1970s, he remembers what that area looked like back then.

“What I remember seeing was lots of people and businesses here,” Jenkins said.

The area Jenkins recalls has little resemblance now, but that plans to change starting with the Ritz Cultural and Community Center.

“Ritz Theater was a theater where most African Americans went to engage in commerce for the arts,” Lequrica Gaskins, Albany Downtown Manager, said. “It was a bustling center for the community. African Americans were thriving in the Harlem District and the Ritz Theater was one of those components.”

Albany city leaders say they are getting closer to developing a plan that would reopen the Ritz Cultural Center after the once-thriving entertainment venue has sat empty for 14 years.

Millions of dollars have been reserved for the project, and city leaders believe it could be a centerpiece to reviving the historic Harlem District.

Design plans are expected to be final by the end of 2026.

“We are working with the architect, and we’re anticipating we will have a plan of action for the design of the space end of the year or certainly the first quarter of the year,” Gaskins said.

The city still needs to open bids for the project, and that may not happen until the beginning of 2026.

Those who remember the Harlem District when it was thriving remain hopeful that the Ritz Cultural Center will reopen.

“I think there’s things that could happen if we get the Ritz Cultural Center back open,” Jenkins said.

The center has been renovated before, but construction issues followed. Since it closed for the last time, several plans to reopen it have been discussed. Supporters hope whoever takes over the project does it right.

WALB will provide updates as we learn more about plans for the Ritz.

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