THOMASVILLE — The City of Thomasville’s Municipal Auditorium is about to get a historic preservation plan, thanks to a Fox Theatre Institute grant. 

Under the grant, no work will be done to the facility, city tourism director Bonnie Hayes said, but it will allow for a group to inspect the building and develop a plan to keep its historic integrity intact. 

“We were lucky enough to get a Fox Theatre Institute grant for funding a historic preservation plan, which will help us guide in renovations for the building,” she said.

Hayes also expressed optimism for future funding grants from the Fox Theatre Institute. 

The Fox Theatre Institute, created by Atlanta’s legendary venue, provides historic preservation and operations expertise assistance to locales across Georgia and the Southeast. Among its beneficiaries has been the Colquitt County Arts Center in Moultrie. 

The city has applied for FTI grants in the past for the auditorium but did not receive them because it lacked a historic preservation plan.

Hayes said she is working with Thomasville Landmarks, and director Nancy Tinker has provided her the names of four companies that specialize in historic preservation plans.

Hayes also said Leigh Burns, the Fox Theatre Institute director, is planning to visit next month.

The auditorium is getting some work done, aside from the grant. Council members earlier this month approved a bid from S&L Integrated to remove the auditorium’s counterweight system so the floors can be replaced. 

The counterweight system holds the curtains and the lighting. Council members previously approved replacing the floor.

“It has to come up,” Hayes told council members earlier this month. “The floors are damaged underneath it.”

Hayes said it is an extensive project but S&L Integrated seems to have a good grip on what is required. The work is expected to take 21-28 days.