Theatre Owner: Fire "Sure Does Seem" Electrical

Though the four walls comprising the charred shell of The Georgia Theatre still stand, they are not all doing so on an equal structural footing. 

"A good ole' boy from the ATF yesterday said 'boy, I bet you get to keep your front wall, but I bet you don't get to keep your back wall,'" said Theatre owner Wilmot Greene in a Wednesday morning interview with Athens' 1340 AM. 

The Theatre suffered massive fire damage five days ago. Greene was careful to note no cause has been determined, but suggested hunches are beginning to form.

"No one has said anything directly to me but most of the questions they've been asking me have been related to electrical things," he said. "So, it's probably bad for me to guess, but it sure does seem like it was an electrical problem."

Speculation has swirled around the air conditioner unit, the circuit breaker of which Greene  says he bypassed in recent years of renovation work.

"At this point, there is just no answer to any of those questions. It's a federal case, it's going slow. My insurance adjustor has told me the only thing I can do right now is stay patient and stay organized."

While the questions are being answered, the community continues to rally around the employees of the once-vibrant theater. Benefit shows by Perpetual Groove at The Classic Center and Dead Confederate/The Whigs at The Melting Point have raised almost a month's worth of the Theatre's payroll cost. Still, even with the immense amount of goodwill and support, Greene continues to try and cope as best as could be expected and regain a sense of normalcy. 

"I was actually kind of proud of myself for keeping it together [on the day of the fire], because I think a lot of people were looking to me [to do so]," he said. "But just yesterday I was drying my sheets, I was doing laundry, I was afraid to start my dryer. So I think I'm gonna have a Post Traumatic Stress kinda effects. It's really strange. I really feel strange." 

— Alec Wooden

currently listening to "Rain, Fire and Brimstone," by Madeline Adams

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