Country great Mel Tillis announced the sale of his theater at a Branson press conference July 10, 2002. The Theater, along with 13 acres of additional land will make a heavenly transformation to a church, thanks to Hobby Lobby, Inc. in the next coming months, but not entirely until Mel completes 135 more shows through New Year’s Eve at that location. Daughter Pam Tillis will join him at Christmas for a Tillis Family Christmas. “I’m not worried about the theater now, its in God’s Hand’s and you can’t get any better than that.”

An extremely happy Mel Tillis will pursue other interests like “fishing, working on an album with his family, and with his band” and divide time between his homes in Branson, Nashville, and Florida. David Green, owner of Hobby Lobby, Inc. was the benevolent purchaser and will in turn lease the property to the Tri-Lakes Cathedral group. Tillis first arrived in Branson on a permanent basis in 1990 and leased what is now the Yakov Theater for two years, built the Will Rogers Theater in 1992 with partner Melvin Hall, and then eventually built Branson’s finest theater, his present location, in 1994. Mel has performed over 4,000 shows in Branson for millions of visitor and has been one of Branson’s most successful shows. 

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