MOUNT PLEASANT — Buddy’s Place sits along Main Street as a steady reminder of what Mount Pleasant has long been — an old-school breakfast, lunch and dinner spot where the pace is unhurried and the faces are familiar.
A block away, a long-vacant movie house is being prepared for a second act that could reshape the town’s cultural and economic future.
The building, which opened in 1948 as the Paula Theater, will soon become The Avett Theater, a live music venue and performing arts center named for The Avett Brothers — one of North Carolina’s most successful bluegrass-rock bands and sons of Mount Pleasant.
At the center of the effort is Dr. Allen Dobson.
Widely known across Cabarrus County as a longtime family physician, Dobson founded Cabarrus Family Medicine in Mount Pleasant and across the state in the early 1980s. He later helped establish the Cabarrus Family Medicine residency program, which for 22 years has trained doctors who now serve communities across the region.
His professional career has focused on long-term investment — building institutions that strengthen communities over time.
That same philosophy now drives the revival of the town’s long-dormant theater.
The 13,000-square-foot structure stood largely unused for decades after closing as a movie house. When Dobson and local partners first stepped inside, the building had become little more than a warehouse.
“When we bought it, it was full of stuff — floor to ceiling,” Dobson said.
Earlier this year the building, valued at $600K, was donated to Mt. Pleasant Theatre Inc, a nonprofit organization formed to preserve and operate the venue for public benefit.
Plans call for restoring the theater’s original façade and stage while modernizing the building with new electrical and mechanical systems, accessibility upgrades including an elevator and a three-story backstage addition.
When finished, the venue will seat about 600 people, filling what Dobson believes is a missing niche in North Carolina’s music ecosystem.
“There’s a lack of mid-sized venues,” he said. “You’re either in a nightclub or you’re playing a stadium.”
The Avett connection became tangible shortly after the pandemic, when Scott Avett, who lives in Mount Pleasant, and Seth Avett, now in Charlotte, returned to film a music video inside the stripped-down theater before renovations began. Their father, Jim Avett — also a musician — serves on the Avett Theater board and remains actively involved. Clearly, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“There wasn’t any power. There wasn’t any heat,” Dobson recalled. “They said, ‘It doesn’t matter. Can you give me some power?’”
Temporary lighting was installed. Extension cords ran across the floor. The band filmed their video for “Orion’s Belt” inside the empty hall.
Dobson watched from the back of the room.
“Hearing and seeing those guys on stage in here, it was like — this is what it has to be,” he said.
The theater project carries an estimated $4 million price tag, with fundraising structured across multiple sources.
About $2.7 million will go toward historic restoration and infrastructure upgrades including structural repairs and new mechanical systems. Another $1.1 million will fund sound and lighting systems, staging, a marquee and furnishings. Roughly $200,000 is earmarked for operational support during the theater’s first three years.
Funding will come through private donations, grants and corporate partnerships, while long-term sustainability will rely on ticket sales, venue rentals and programming.
The theater is not the first historic structure Dobson and local partners have helped revive in Mount Pleasant.
Just down the street, 73 & Main occupies a restored mercantile building at the corner of Main Street and N.C. 73. During renovations, the building’s original hardwood floors were preserved, and historic mercantile shelving was repurposed behind a rare bourbon bar.
A mid-1800s stone-lined well discovered beneath a concrete slab during construction was restored and is now visible behind the glass on the patio. The feature inspired the name of the Old Well Brewery —Mount Pleasant’s first, a nanobrewery operating inside the restaurant by Allen’s son and brewmaster, Robert.
Behind the bar sits Conviction Straight Bourbon Whiskey, produced one mile away at Southern Grace Distilleries at Whiskey Prison, the former Cabarrus Correctional Center.
The 1930s-era prison compound has been transformed into one of North Carolina’s most distinctive craft-spirits destinations, where bourbon now ages in spaces that once held inmates.
Conviction has earned national recognition, including Gold at the MicroLiquor Spirit Awards, Double Gold at The Fifty Best Bourbons Competition and Best Bourbon at the New Orleans Bourbon Festival. Southern Grace Distilleries was named North Carolina Visitor Attraction of the Year in 2019, and the historic prison grounds have also become a popular destination for paranormal investigators who consider the site among the region’s most haunted.
Nearby taps rotate through imports, local craft beers from Cabarrus Brewing and Old Well creations including Hazy Horns IPA, which is also served at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.
Within a few blocks of the future theater, visitors can explore a compact collection of historic sites, restaurants and locally owned shops that give Mount Pleasant its walkable character.
WALKABLE MOUNT PLEASANT
Downtown stops within blocks of the future Avett Theater
Coffee & Sweets
· Café Lentz – European-style café serving coffee, pastries and local art with multi-level outdoor seating
· The Bakery at Mount Pleasant – Fresh breads and baked goods made daily
· Grumpy’s Ice Cream Parlor – Old-fashioned ice cream shop with classic small-town charm
Historic Landmarks
· Eastern Cabarrus Historic Society Museum – Exhibits preserving the region’s educational and textile history
· Mount Pleasant Fire Department – One of the county’s longstanding volunteer fire departments
· Moose Pharmacy – Established in 1882 and still serving the community
· Mount Pleasant Barbershop – Operating from the same location since 1902
Shopping & Antiques
· Down South on Main – Home décor, fashion and a full “man cave” section
· Kingdom Corner – Vintage toys, records and musical instruments
· White Owl Antique Mall – One of the largest antique malls in the South with about 100,000 square feet and more than 500 vendors
· Clines Country Antiques – Vintage furniture and eclectic finds
· Ruffin’s Roost – Primitive and farmhouse antiques
Stay the Night
· The Inn at Mount Pleasant Bed and Breakfast – A restored historic home offering overnight accommodations within walking distance of downtown. The Inn offers only five rooms, but visitors can find accommodations in nearby Concord.
Mount Pleasant, about 40 minutes northeast of Charlotte and 15 minutes east of Concord, once thrived as a commercial stop along the old Charleston Highway before rail lines and highways shifted the flow of commerce.
Today, Mount Pleasant’s historic churches, longtime barbershops and small storefronts still anchor the town’s quaint, small-town charm — but the vision moving forward is decidedly forward-facing. Visitors now travel from miles around, including nearby Lake Norman communities and Charlotte, to dine at 73 & Main in the heart of downtown, making it a natural starting point for exploring Mount Pleasant’s growing lineup of walkable shops, eateries and local attractions.
Dobson’s influence in Mount Pleasant may have earned him the informal title of “mayor,” but his method hasn’t changed — invest early, build carefully and strengthen the community for the long term.
The Avett Theater is not just a renovation.
It’s the next step in positioning Mount Pleasant as a town that preserves its past while giving people the desire to return time and time again.
