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December 8, 2010

Consultant set to help Temple make plans

By Jennifer Jacob Brown / jbrown@themeridianstar.com The Meridian Star

MERIDIAN —     A professional planning consultant will soon be helping to breathe new life into Meridian's historic Temple Theater.

    Thanks to a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and donations from local businesses, the Temple and Meridian Main Street have raised  most of the funds needed to hire the consultant, who has worked on hundreds of historic theater projects, including ones at the MSU Riley Center and in Biloxi.

    The consultant, Janis A. Barlow and Associates, will create a "clear roadmap to assist the project moving forward," which is expected to include things like suggestions for a preliminary budget, organizational structure for the operation of the theater, and sources and uses of funds, according to a written report from Meridian Main Street.

    The consultant will also help develop support for the theater from local government, help bring interested parties to consensus, educate the community about the project, according to the report.

    The consultant should begin work around the beginning of the year, and will have a six week timeline.

    The fee for the consultant will be $7,500. With a grant for $2,629 from the National Trust, donations from the community will cover the other $4,871. Businesses who have contributed to the project include Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Structural Steel, and Peavey Electronics.

    "This is a community project," said Meridian Main Street Director John McClure. "We're all partners, and we're all in this together to try and revitalize downtown."

    McClure said Barlow is amply qualified for the job. "She's done not just scores, but hundreds of historic theater planning projects," he said.

    Temple Theater Owner Roger Smith was excited about the opportunity to work with Barlow, and said he understands that his theater is part of the larger effort to revitalize both downtown and historic Meridian.

    "This is about this city having a disproportionate amount of architectural gems. If you go around the country, you're not going to find a city that has as many as this one has, and that's really why I'm here," Smith said.

    Smith has worked in theaters since he was young, and moved to Meridian from Texas after buying the Temple. He said keeping such a large theater open in such a small market is a challenge, but one he faces optimistically and enjoys working to meet.

    "It's always going to be a struggle and it's always been a struggle to maintain this huge building, but I think with the foresight of our city's business leaders, I think it's an attainable goal," he said.

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