Otis Redding Center expands foundation’s capacity for youth engagement

For a little over two years the new Otis Redding Center has been under construction, just a stone’s throw away from the Otis Redding Museum, down the road from Otis Redding’s former office.

Karla Redding-Andrews, Otis Redding’s daughter, told The Melody earlier this year that the new center means a lot to her family and father’s legacy, especially because of the location on Cotton Avenue, “one of the most important Black shopping districts in Macon.”

She said the center will allow the Otis Redding Foundation to reach a greater number of kids with music education.

“We know kids need an outlet from their outlet from an academic day, and we want to be that outlet,” Redding-Andrews said.

With construction set to complete at any moment, the center will also have a new 250 person amphitheater adjacent to the current property, which will allow the foundation to host concerts.

While the foundation works out of the museum just down the road, it is only about 2,000 square feet. The new center will clock in at around 15,000 square feet.

Justin Andrews, director of special projects and outreach at the Otis Redding Foundation, said the new center will put kids in the heart of a “booming” downtown community.

“They are more excited than I think that we are to get this thing off the ground,” he said. “The support has been phenomenal.”

Upon entering the center, visitors will be greeted with an interactive gallery space with tablets and screens featuring the history of Otis Redding’s and Georgia’s music.

Five practice rooms/green rooms for performers are located right outside the doors to the amphitheater. The brand new, much larger recording studio across the rooms will be able to import sound made inside the practice rooms.

“We can serve a lot more kids, get a lot more kids in and out quicker, and give them a state of the art experience that they’ll get from Atlanta, to New York, to Nashville,” Andrews said.

Kids can also practice and learn on the center’s second floor with its seven “humongous multi-use classrooms” equipped with desks and a smart board, Andrews said. 

Previously, the Otis Redding Foundation worked with local institutions like Mercer University and Mount de Sales Academy, but having their own space will allow them to run longer camps and programming and give kids more things to do.

“We’ve taken a lot of those ideas we’ve seen and implemented them here,” Andrews said. “We think we have built a very awesome product that will be here for years to come with room for growth.”

Although no plans have been announced, the center will open up sometime in the new year.