It was announced earlier this week that the City of Hogansville has received a $200,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to be used for restoration and renovation of the city’s Royal Theatre building, which currently serves as Hogansville’s city hall. 

The grant, a Rural Business Development Grant, is one of the multiple grants the city has received as of late for renovations to the Royal Theatre. 

The entire renovation project for the theatre is budgeted to cost between $1.8 and $2.2 million, and with the USDA grant recently received, Hogansville has secured approximately $1.2 million in total grant money to be used toward this project. 

In addition to the recent $200,000 USDA grant comes a $200,000 SPLOST match. The city has also thus far received grants of $29,125 and $51,250 from the Fox Theatre Institute, a $20,000 grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service, a $2,750 grant from the Hogansville Historical Society, a $1,116 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a $33,180 Multimodal Safety and Access Project grant from GDOT. This revenue is also in addition to the $700,000 in restoration work voters approved via SPLOST in 2013. In sum, the city has received more than half of the restoration funds needed, either through grants or SPLOST funding, toward the rehabilitation of the city’s most famous landmark. 

Hogansville was recognized at the recent Georgia Department of Community Affairs meeting at Callaway Gardens as a shining example of a city that takes consistent advantage of DCA programs.

The city leaders should be commended for taking advantage of all available state and federal dollars for the betterment of the city and its citizens. 

In addition, Hogansville has once again applied for a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant from the federal government, a grant the city can apply for every two years. Since 2011, Hogansville has received $2.25 million in federal funding through this program, which is designed to provide communities with resources to address a wide range of community development needs and is one of the longest-running programs underneath the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

Rehabilitating the Royal Theatre is an expensive project. Once done, it will be a tremendous asset for the city, but it is taking heavy investment to reach that point. Intelligent decisions from city leadership are helping to ensure this work gets done quickly.