A Sad Day in Georgia
The historic Georgia Theater in Athens was heavily damaged today by a fire.
Firefighters were called at about 7 a.m. to the theater, located at the corner of North Lumpkin and West Clayton streets, when a man walking home through downtown smelled something burning and found smoke billowing from the theater doors.
Within an hour, the roof on the historic building had collapsed.
Dozens of big-name acts had performed at the Georgia Theatre — musicians such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Prine and Jorma Kaukonen, not to mention Athens-based acts like R.E.M., Randall Bramblett and Davis Causey.
The theater originally became a music venue in 1978, when Sheffy McArthur built a stage in the building and opened the venue with Sam Smart and George Fontaine.