The Tara Theatre was opened in June 1968 by
Loew's Theatres. It embodied the modernist architecture popular at the time. Originally called '''Loew's Tara''', the theater's name memorialized the fictional
Tara plantation, home of the
O'Hara family in
Margaret Mitchell's novel
Gone with the Wind. Tara opened with a 70mm, stereophonic presentation of the film
Gone with the Wind on its 60-foot screen. This single screen with seating for 1,000 was later divided into a twin theatre. In the 1970s a third theater was added onto the building and in the early 80’s one of the twin theaters was divided itself. The theater became part of the local Lefont theater group in the 1980s. At the end of that decade,
United Artists Theaters bought the Tara and used part of the building as a regional corporate office until United Artists, along with Edwards Theatres, was merged into the new parent company
Regal Entertainment Group in 2002, but was still operated under the United Artists label for a time. Shortly afterward, the Tara was remodeled to feature silver,
streamline moderne-inspired details in the interior and above the portico, faux
art deco advertisements, and large hanging portraits of classical Hollywood movie stars, such as Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart,
Ingrid Bergman, and Charlie Chaplin. The Tara was closed by Regal in November 2022. The Tara was then re-opened in May 2023 under local ownership that also owns the nearby historic
Plaza Theatre. ==References==