The Fort Valley Hotel Meeting and Entertainment Center was announced back in July of 2017.
The center was supposed to break ground at the end of last year. Mayor Barbara Williams says, "We hope to break ground before the end of the year. I know we've said this before, but we're actually down to that now."
What does it mean for the local college students and businesses?
Ronnie Mathis is the owner of Peach Realty and has lived in Fort Valley since 1975. He thinks a new hotel will help businesses like his.
"Particularly because I'm in real estate, people ask for a place to stay when they're here. That would be good for the county to have a hotel not far from here," says Mathis.
But Fort Valley State University, student Marcus Brown doesn't think it will do anything for the area.
"I think that money can be used for something that we can actually use here, like a grocery store, or something entertainment-wise for people, but as far as a hotel, I think it's a bad idea," says Brown.
The hotel will have 108 rooms and the movie theater will have six total theaters. Williams says she expects the movie theater to be open by July, and the hotel will be open by October 2019.
The $15 million needed for the project will come from developers and private partners.