Bethany Smith wants everything about her new theater in Tyrone to be first-class.

Last week, she approached the Town Council about allowing a 1940s old-fashioned marquee to be placed on the front of the building. Smith explained she had already scaled down the number of bulbs, and wanted the theater to be the showplace for the area.

“I have never seen a theater without a marquee,” Smith said.

The problem is the Tyrone Sign Ordinance does not currently allow a marquee, so Smith was hoping the council could offer a solution to her problem.

While the town’s leaders were sympathetic to her plight, there seemed to be nothing they could do.

“We don’t want to set a precedent where we have a ton of marquees all over town,” said Town Manager Barry Amos.

Town attorney Brad Sears said you could just not single out a single business for a sign ordinance exception, and said many of the marquees in the region are grandfathered in before ordinances were written.

“If they ever take down the marquee at the Alamo in Newnan, they can never have another one,” Sears said.

The Town Council agreed to see if there was anything that could be done, but this week, Amos did not sound too optimistic.

“It appears they will be opening with a banner,” he said.

In other news, the Town Council approved the site plan for a Nikko Japanese steakhouse in the Southampton shopping center on Ga. Highway 74. The restaurant is the second for a Tennessee Japanese family.

After the measure was approved, Amos had one question.

“When will it open?” he chuckled.