Dr. Todd Brand stands in the newly renovated McCain Theater at Meridian Community College.

    McCain Theater at Meridian Community College underwent major renovations over the summer.     

    “We had to paint it first,” said Dr. Todd Brand, division chair for Fine Arts and Communication at MCC. “We then pulled up all the old flooring, and added new flooring. We also replaced the old original chairs from 1965 with brand new chairs.”

    The $150,000 needed to renovate came from a donation left to the college by the theater’s namesake, Emma McCain. That came about after Brand spoke with MCC President Dr. Scott Elliott.

    “Dr. Elliot was able to talk with Kathy Brookshire,who is over the MCC Foundation, and we learned there was money left over from Emma McCain’s donation she left to the college when she passed away,” Brand said. “That money had grown interest for several years and Kathy said she couldn’t think of a better use of the money than on the theater that bears Emma’s name.”

    The project wrapped up just in time for the beginning of the spring semester.

    “It worked out perfectly that when the faculty came back from their workshop week the entire job was finished,” Brand explained. “We couldn’t have asked for a smoother transition.”

    Elliott spoke of McCain’s contributions to the college.

    “Emma McCain was for many years one of our community’s foremost supporters of the arts,” Elliott said. “Through the years, she generously supported MCC and its fine arts programming, and it was a natural back in 2001 for our Board of Trustees to name the college’s fine arts theater in her honor. Along about that time, the college made some modest improvements to the theater, but nothing major. We made a few piecemeal upgrades since then. So, when the MCC Foundation made the monies Emma had in its trust available to the college this year, it was a no-brainer to use the funds to renovate the theater – Emma’s theater. If anything, it was well past time to give the theater a make-over.

    “I know that Emma is looking down from Heaven with a smile on her face over the all-new seating, the new floor, the fresh paint and other improvements. I hope that the investment in the theater demonstrates the college’s commitment to the arts and its dedication to honoring Emma’s legacy.”