MACON, Ga. — The 50th anniversary of the Allman Brothers' first jam is coming up next Tuesday. To celebrate, the Big House will have free admission that day. But much bigger plans are in the works for the property.
10,000 fans a year come to the Big House to pay homage to the Allman Brothers, but director Richard Brent says down the road, they'll get to see more of 2321 Vineville Avenue.
"And then as far as the Big House goes, the third floor, which currently houses the offices and archives, will be renovated to be what it was when the band lived here," Brent said. "So Red Dog slept up there, the pool table was up there, so they did a lot of hanging, playing music, and shooting pool."
Right now, the third floor houses offices and the entire Allman collection that will move to the house next door.
RELATED: 'Capricorn was a place where the lightning struck:' Mercer works to renovate Macon's historic studio
"The first floor of this house will be used for events and entertainment. There will be a bar with a deck where people can potentially buy into a VIP experience and be able to stand right there and hear great music being played right here, so a lot of great opportunities here," Brent explained.
An architect in Atlanta has already drawn up plans to make the stage and the yard around the Big House even bigger. "With a bigger yard, we can do bigger events," Brent projected.
If you've visited the Big House, you know there are thousands of artifacts, but now, a coffee table book is going to come out to help fund what they're now dubbing the Allman Complex.
"The fans have always wanted to see our entire collection. Well, you won't get the whole collection in this book, but you will get a whole lot of stuff you haven't seen before, stuff we've never even displayed before," he explained.
Brent says nothing is going to happen overnight -- the plan is to have things done in the next two to three years.
"It's wonderful to see people enjoying themselves, just like the brothers were playing Central City Park back in the day," Brent said with a smile.
As for the coffee table book, it's for sale on the Big House website.
The 300-page book will eventually show up in the gift store for $50.