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HOGANSVILLE – The City of Hogansville was recently approved for a $750,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration, the final step to get the city’s Royal Theater restoration project off the ground.

Hogansville applied for $750,000 in the form of an EDA grant last year, adding to the city’s over $1.2 million budget for the project.   

Hogansville currently has nearly $2 million available for the project, $200,000 of which is from the Callaway Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture. The city has accumulated $700,000 in 2013-2018 Royal Theater SPLOST fund and individual donations as well, said Hogansville Community Development Director Lynne Miller.

The bulk of the work on the theater will include stabilizing the building and demolishing certain parts. The EDA grant specifically covers restoring electrical, plumbing and lighting needs, and covers interior finishes, such as flooring and trim works.

The theater originally had 900 seats, but under the new design will include 450 seats a suitable space for film and theatrical productions. The theater’s balcony is also set to stay.

Notably, the design is meant to encase the character of the theater from its heyday, Miller said.

“We’re very fortunate to have the original Tucker & Howell plans,” Miller said. Tucker and Howell, an early 20th-century Atlanta architectural firm, additionally designed over a dozen theaters, including the original LaGrange Theater in 1930.

“There might be a little bit of modernization but we do want there to be character designing features of the Royal,” Miller said.

The Royal Theater is currently on the National Register of Historic Places.

Work on the Royal Theater is expected to begin later this summer, Miller said, with a slated completion date by mid-2024.