Built in 1909, this site was originally home to First Baptist Church, but the congregation eventually outgrew the space and moved to a different building in the early 1970s. Community leaders, determined to preserve the historic structure, rallied to preserve the church and began working to transform it into a community arts center. They finally got their wish in 1976 and, after carefully restoring its architectural detail, reopened it as Spirit Square.

The theater, which has retained many elements of its former home — red velvet seating, stained-glass windows, and an Hagia Sophia-like Byzantine dome — is named after legendary Charlotte jazz pianist Loonis McGlohon. Part of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, the theatre now provides a smaller, intimate venue, seating only about 700 people, for touring solo acts like Idina Menzel and Bruce Hornsby. McGlohon Theater also plays host to many productions performed annually by local arts groups, such as Carolina Voices.