Ashley Art Adult Theatre
293 Peachtree Street NW,
Atlanta,
GA
30308
293 Peachtree Street NW,
Atlanta,
GA
30308
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Opened with “Sweets for the suite”.
Opened on October 30th, 1970. First ad in photo section.
I had to think hard about this one. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, and I believe it is, it was on the
left side of the street as you rode into town. On the right side of the street just before you got
to the Ashby was the Gay Paree (“All Male Cast”). Next to the Ashby was a B-girl champagne hustle
topless bar. Low profile was not the Ashby’s cup of tea – the place had a bright yellow facade
with giant silhouettes of nude women painted on. I had no quarrel with porn, but I did have a
problem with tacky eyesores.
Yes, that was the old Saint Francis, sort of a miniature imitation of NY’s Flat Iron building,
at least in structure. The Imperial was behind the Catholic Church (wasn’t that Sacred Heart?)
if memory serve me correctly.
In the late 60’s and early 70’s days of urban decay, a lot of places like this popped up all over Atlanta usually with the word “Art” added to the end. Houston Street Art, and Walton Street Art come to mind. I do not think that it was ever a real movie theatre. It was located in the block of Peachtree that runs from Baker to Ivy / Porter Place, and was part of a strip of storefronts that began with the Baptist Book Store and ended with the old St Francis Hotel. Or was it the Imperial? The entire block is gone now and John Portman’s 1 Atlantic Center sits on the site.
Thankfully I was never inside, but I did pass it everyday while riding the bus to and from Georgia State. It seemed to be one of those 16MM grind operations that advertised the first “showing” at 10AM and the last one starting at midnight. The sign over the door stated the admission as $5. Standard admission for regular movies in those days was about $2 tops. From its location, you could see the First Methodist Church almost across the street, a Catholic church behind it on Ivy, and the Episcopal church just north on Peachtree.