The Meridian Museum of Art is hoping a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission will help make the museum more accessible to people with disabilities.

In a meeting Tuesday, Kate Cherry, executive director of the Meridian Art Museum, explained the plan to city council members and asked for their support.

“We are requesting a letter of intent from the city so we can request funds from the Mississippi Arts Commission from the Building Fund for the Arts,” Cherry said.

The Mississippi Arts Commission outlines the purpose of grants from its Building Fund for the Arts as, “…focused on supporting the repair, renovation, or expansion of public facilities that are used for year-round arts programming.”

While the museum has been located on 25th Avenue for 52 years, Cherry said the museum has battled with expanding access to those in wheelchairs.

“This will make our building completely ADA compliant,” she said. “Our building is currently not ADA compliant.”

Currently, the museum has one wheelchair lift that has been in place for about 20 years, Cherry said. The aged lift, she said, has had a variety of maintenance issues and cannot accommodate larger wheelchairs.

With the MAC grant, Cherry said the plan is to make the museum more accessible to those with disabilities. The plan, she said, calls for an addition onto the side of the museum that offers wheelchair accessible restrooms, an elevator to the second floor and ramps leading to the entrance for those in wheelchairs to use.

The expansion would also provide space for executive offices and a climate controlled display area for the museum’s permanent collection.

Councilman George Thomas said the city would be applying for the funds since the city owns the museum building.

Cherry said getting the building ADA compliant would allow all people to learn about Meridian’s art history. Achieving ADA compliance would also open the doors to more funding opportunities to help the museum grow even more.

Letters of intent for Building Fund for the Arts grants are due by Aug. 5, Cherry said. Applicants will then be selected to send in a full application later this month or in September.