City approves $14,000 to refurbish Texan Theater sign

This is one of the photos seen by the Athens City Council Monday night. The photo is only to show the sign; no decision has been made on how the theater will be finished. (Courtesy photo)

By Michael V. Hannigan/HCN

The Texan Theater sign is scheduled for refurbishing — with a Hornet twist.

Monday night, the Athens City Council approved a plan to have Design Center Signs of Tyler remove, restore and re-install the Texan Theater sign for $14,000.

The colors for the sign are neo ruby and white, which look a lot like the maroon and white of Athens ISD in the photo that was shown to the council.

“Those colors are very near and dear to the folks in town,” said City Manager Philip Rodriguez, “so the council wanted to go in that direction.”

The Texan Theater citizen advisory committee was expected to meet Tuesday night. Officials thought a recommendation for how to proceed with the theater project could be presented at the next City Council meeting.

The cost for refurbishing the sign is coming from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax and is not part of the $150,000 budget set aside for the theater project.

“We know that the Texan Theater project is going to be a very significant project for our community,” said Rodriguez. “We want to capitalize on that ($150,000 budget) the best we can for construction costs.”

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