Mary Adair Trumbly was five years into her role as execu- tive director of the Highlands Performing Arts Center – or PAC as it’s often called. Her ears delighted in the four words spoken at that now-historic board meeting. “I was thrilled they said it,” she recalls. “They got there on their own. I completely agreed but I didn’t have to say a word.” To say a lot has happened in the seven years since that retreat would be a grand understatement. An intense fundraising campaign, decisions on budget, site and timeline, architectural planning -- the background scenery was ever-changing. And then, in a dramatic entry from stage left, the story’s villain appeared: the pandemic. It would have been easy for the staff, board and volun- teers to step back and halt their efforts in 2020. But be- ing fully committed, they locked into the vision of having all the community’s performing arts groups under one roof, embraced the momentum and pushed through. In the fall of last year, the curtain rose on the gorgeous, new facility on Chestnut Street, adjacent to the PAC’s former home. Its mountain modern style sends a clear message: The future of performing arts in the mountain town of Highlands has arrived.
Taking center stage through the entire production was Cindy Trevathan whose husband, Rick, served as the PAC’s board chair. “We wouldn’t be here without her,” Trumbly says. A committed volunteer, Trevathan says she “felt com- pelled to continue,” even when the pandemic hit, and costs rose. She remembers well that fateful 2015 board retreat, as it marked the beginning of her journey. The project “just made sense.” “The town was growing and our performing arts venues – an old school auditorium and church – needed to grow with it. From the early screening to deciding what and where to build to navigating the pandemic and associ- ated cost increases, I just felt compelled to continue.” Receiving top billing along with Trevathan, according to Trumbly, are Jane Webb and Geri Coleman, both of whom served on the PAC board. Except for $60,000 from Macon County, the $14.8 mil- lion raised all came from private sources. (As of this writing, the PAC still needed $1.1 million to completely close the books on the construction campaign. An op- erating endowment is another need.)
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