This morning I got news that the Georgia Theatre in Athens had undertaken extensive damage on the inside from a fire that started on the second floor.  This occurs a week before AthFest, a festival which will have a new meaning this year.

During my first month as a staff photographer for The Red & Black I was assigned to take this portrait of the Georgia Theatre’s new owner, Wilmot Greene.  He had just completed a fairly large renovation of the second floor area including the bathrooms.  I figured I would post this in honor of the Theatre today.

Wilmot Greene, owner of the Georgia Theatre, poses for this January 2007 portrait in the then newly renovated second floor bathrooms shortly after he took over as the new owner.  The theatre was gutted by a fire Friday morning, the fire is believed to have started on the second floor. Greene has said they will rebuild since the outside walls are fine.