History

Hogansville is a former railroad town with much of its historic architecture intact. The city is located along I-85 in west-central Georgia, midway between Atlanta and Columbus, approximately 45 miles from each. Three miles west of the interstate is the city’s downtown, with the 1937 Royal Theater showcased in the center.

The Royal Theater is a large, freestanding rectangular block with plain brick sides and rear elevations and a monumental Art Deco Façade. The white stucco façade features two flat roofed towers and a taller center tower capped with a stepped pyramidal roof. The center tower is adorned with incised geometric pattern. The smaller flanking towers are banded at the top. The steel finial that topped the center tower is missing butt similar steel sculptures remain in niches in the side towers.

The Royal was built in 1937 by Mr. O.C. Lam, a local whose brother, C.O. Lam was the County school superintendent. Tucker and Howell Architects of Atlanta gave the theater its Art Deco style, which was widely popular in the late 1920’s – early 1930’s. During the Great Depression, Americans found solace and escape in movie theaters with exotic architectural styles. For its part, the Royal was once the largest movie theater this side of Columbus, with nearly 900 seats, pulling patrons from a wide area. The theater remains a much loved and remembered community landmark.

The Royal remained a movie theater until 1980 – a notable feat in that one-third of the nation’s movie theaters shut down during the Depression and few survived the habit-changing innovations of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.

On June 21, 2001 the Royal Theater was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Since then:

November 2011 – Countywide voters approved a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax project: “Renovate Royal Theater for community use.” $700,000 was raised for this line item between 2013-2018 and these funds, with interest, were earmarked as matches for subsequent Royal theater renovation grants.
March to April 2018 – City Council and Hogansville Downtown Development Authority adopted a Downtown Master Plan and Market Strategy by Georgia Conservancy and partners. The Master Plan recommended that the Royal Theater, as “the downtown’s most significant built asset and the cornerstone to a larger strategy of creating a destination economic future for the city,” be returned to entertainment use.
June 2018 — A grass roots group began attending City Council meetings in royal blue tee shirts and presented the Council with an impassioned plea and 450+ signatures on a petition – in this City of 3,100 people – to restore the theater. Most of the signatures were from city residents or people from neighboring communities. Public support and publicity continue to this day, with members of the public proposing over 35 different uses for the restored theater.
July 2018 – The Royal Theater Master Plan was completed by Carter Watkins Associates Architects of Monroe GA., funded in part by a Fox Theatre Institute of Atlanta planning grant. This plan directed the City to rehabilitate the theater for flexible entertainment space. The City Council adopted the Master Plan on July 16, 2018.
April 2019 – The Royal Theater re-roofed with financial assistance from a $20,000 Historic Preservation Fund grant from the Georgia Historic Preservation Division. Total roof replacement cost was $87,350.
May 2019 – USDA awarded $200,000 in Rural Development funds to help rehabilitate the Royal.
June 2019 – Carter Watkins Associates Architects completed full plans and specifications for the Royal Theater rehabilitation, funded in part by a Fox Theatre Institute preservation grant.
August 2019 – Royal Theater Business Plan and proforma completed by Laurel Street Consulting of Springfield GA – home of the Mars Theatre.
January 2020 – Callaway Foundation awarded $250,000 to help rehabilitate the Royal.
June 2021 – Royal Theater was vacated when Hogansville City Hall moved from the Royal into the former PNC Bank building nearby.
October 2021 – Georgia Council for the Arts awarded $75,000 to help rehabilitate the Royal.
May 2022 – U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration awarded an American Rescue Plan Act, Travel and Tourism grant of $750,000 to help rehabilitate the Royal.
April 2023 – City hired Principal Construction of West GA for the building rehabilitation.
June 2023 – August 2024 – Royal Theater rehabilitated.
September 2023 – U.S. EDA added $1,039,270 to its 2022 grant, bringing the EDA contribution to $1,789, 270.
September 2023 – Fox Theater Institute awarded $75,000 toward the theater rehabilitation.
January 2024 – T-Mobile awarded $50,000 to the Royal Theater rehabilitation. Total rehabilitation cost = $3.7 million.