The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/27/07 Section: Variety

Media Credit: JOSH D. WEISS Wilmot Greene, owner of Georgia Theatre, poses for a portrait in the venue's newly renovated restrooms. The theatre received other repairs that ran a bill of about $300,000.

It may be true that a penny saved is a penny earned.

Good luck convincing Wilmot Greene.

Since taking over the Georgia Theatre in October of 2004, Greene's pocketbook hardly has taken a breather.

"It's definitely a labor of love," he said as he recollected the cost of repairs completed during his tenure. "But I love this room."

A shortened list of the now completed repairs includes painting and installing new seats in the balcony, painting ceiling tiles and the building front, rewiring the power supply to the stage, revamping the sound system, adding a secondary lighting truss, and revamping the bar area with new registers, a new walk-in cooler, new ceiling fans and new serving lines for beer and Coke.

Those, combined with the newest bathroom and carpet overhauls, have hiked the maintenance bill to a tune of close to $300,000.

"I hope that karma is on my side," said Greene. "My pocketbook tells me I'm doing the wrong thing, but my brain tells me I'm doing the right thing."

Not only the right thing, but something that was becoming overtly necessary.

"When I took over, it was amazing how much stuff in this building was literally held together with duct tape and WD-40," said Greene.

Retracing old steps and correcting old compounded mistakes was part of Greene's work.

"The old owner's maintenance philosophy was to put a band-aid on it," he said. "My goal is to never fix anything twice. If you're gonna fix anything, give it a 10 or 15-year fix."

Greene's selfless policy of sacrificing potential salary for the sake of the venue has rubbed off on his co-workers.

"It's been great to be part of such a progressive situation," said booking agent Scott Orvold. "To be a part of booking in a room where we are growing and making it better every single day, that's exciting."

The latest renovations are sure to be a hit at a venue that was beginning to be known for things other than housing great bands, Greene said.

"I know for a fact that a lot of people refused to come here because of the bathrooms," he said. "I'm glad that I've finally been able to spend money on things that people will notice."

And notice they will, with the men's and women's restrooms being swapped in location and doubled in size - an idea rooted in repeated grumblings that Greene could hear nightly while sitting in his office in between the old bathrooms.

"It was time to do it," he said. "I want people to have a positive experience when they come here."

In Greene's hands, the future of Athens historic landmark and its concertgoers seems safe and secure - a responsibility Greene doesn't take lightly.

"Somebody has the time of their life in here every night, and that is just really cool to see that," he said. "To see that look on someone's face makes me so happy."

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