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Lam named his new movie palace for
Hernando DeSoto, who was thought by many historians to have passed through the area that is now Rome in 1600. DeSoto was completed at a cost of $ 110,000 and opened in August 1927. The theater seated 1,500, making it one of the seven largest movie venues in Georgia
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In 1982 the DeSoto closed as a movie theater, but soon reopened as the venue for Rome's local amateur theater group. The Rome Little
Theatre has staged dozens of plays in the 28 years it has owned the DeSoto, and the theater is one of the venues for the annual Rome International Film Festival. The
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sound system. And, the theater was heated and cooled by an innovative blower-fan air conditioning and tubular boiler system. Additionally, the theater was equipped with state-of-the-art fire safety equipment. Fitted with many exits, the theater could be emptied in two minutes.
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Historic DeSoto
Theatre Foundation now manages the facility, and the DeSoto continues to be a source of entertainment in downtown Rome. The DeSoto still retains its Art-Deco marquee, French mirrored entrance hall, and Georgian interior design.
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The building's exterior and
Georgian interior stylishly housed a number of recent movie palace innovations. Designed as a "talkie" theater, it the first venue in the South to be designed and built for sound pictures. Rome's new house boasted a
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at the time. The theater was an instant success and the pride of Rome. The DeSoto was one of the main sources of entertainment for
Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama for the next thirty years.
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of Rome. In early 1908 O. C. Lam, the owner of Lam
Amusement Company, laid plans to construct a new movie theater in downtown
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65:. Lam purchased a section of prime real estate on the main street of downtown Rome for $ 37,000.
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The Rome Little
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