AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Augusta’s government may pay to overhaul elevators at a former jail in order to attract movie makers.
As many as eight film productions are interested in shooting in the city’s former Law Enforcement Center this year, Film Augusta liaison Jennifer Bowen tells WJBF-TV.
But elevators inside the jail need to be inspected or maintained, with six of seven currently out of service.
Augusta commissioners who support using the building for movies say they want to keep two elevators in service. Last year, the commission agreed not to demolish the jail to see if it would attract filmmakers.
“If we’re going to continue to use the building for the movie industry having one elevator go out during a movie would not be not be a good financial situation,” said Commissioner John Clarke.
Commissioners are seeking the cost to put at least one elevator back into service.
“There’s probably 15 million dollars to 20 million dollars worth of movies that are looking to come here that I can tell you about at least four of them that I know of in the scripts will cause us to utilize the Richmond County Jail facility,” said Mark Crump, who is working as a line producer for the films.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.