By Staff
OPERA HOUSE TOUR U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, left, speaks with Al Rosenbaum Tuesday during a tour of the Grand Opera House. Workers plan to restore the opera house as part of the Riley Education and Performing Arts Center. Photo by Carisa McCain/The Meridian Star
By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
April 23, 2003
U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran pledged his support on Tuesday to the Riley Education and Performing Arts Center after touring the soon-to-be-restored Grand Opera House in downtown Meridian.
Workers already have started asbestos abatement in the Marks-Rothenberg building in downtown Meridian, which will house the Riley Center. Next door is the opera house, the project's centerpiece.
Construction on the Riley Center and restoration of the opera house is expected to begin sometime late this year or early next year. City leaders view the project is vital to revitalizing downtown Meridian.
Mississippi State University President J. Charles Lee said construction documents should be completed by October followed by bidding for construction. Lee said he asked the senator to help find the remaining funds needed to complete the project.
Lee said he wasn't "absolutely sure" how much money the project still needed, but said there was not "quite enough" money at this point for completion. He said he would know how much was needed by the end of the summer.
About $33 million already has been raised for the project.
When restoration and renovation work is complete in 2005, the opera house is expected to seat 1,000 people and attract national performers.
While in Meridian on Tuesday, Cochran visited Naval Air Station Meridian and Bonita Lakes. The senator also met with Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith.
Cochran said he and the mayor discussed several things, such as plans for the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center and plans to repair and refill the lower Bonita Lake.