As the Temple Theater in downtown Meridian prepares to host the “Most Incredible Christmas” production of Ballet Magnificant! on Tuesday evening, its friends and advocates are preparing for a birthday cake event the following day.

The gathering, set for 1 p.m. in the Temple’s lobby, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the storied performing arts complex, coming precisely a century after placement of the Temple cornerstone. Community supporters are encouraged to attend.

The event calls attention to an important cultural institution – one of the largest and more ornate performance venues in America when it opened in the 1920s – that will require significant new investment in coming years, due to the building’s age and restoration needs.

“It’s never been closed,” said Roger Smith, chief executive of the nonprofit Temple Theatre for the Performing Arts that now owns the 1,600-seat theater. He called the birthday event “a celebration of the commitment of a handful of people to keep this building in the forefront of the community.”

Temple advocate Ken Rainey, a longtime music show producer and radio personality, said, “Since 1967, I have had the distinct honor of booking shows in the theater.”

The 100th birthday event will set the stage for a later fundraising variety show at the Temple, tentatively planned for early 2024, Smith and Rainey said.

Developed between 1923 and 1927 by the Hamasa Shriners in a Moorish Revival style, with participation by Saenger Theatres Inc., the Temple was part of a growth and prestige era for the Queen City, with the landmark Threefoot office building soon to follow just blocks away.

The Hamasa Temple cornerstone dated Nov. 22, 1923 credits more than a dozen key players in the project, including architect Emile Weil, the Wetmore & Priester contractors, and Building Committee members Irvin M. Moody, A.D. Simpson, Lew Carter, L.D. Caldwell, Allan McCants, A.J. Lyon, K. Threefoot, William Lerner, Marks Rothenberg, R.P. Hall Sr., J.L. Peavey, and John E. Wright.

The Temple complex, with an adjacent ballroom, through its first century hosted many concerts, recitals, dances, movies, theatrical performances and other public events, becoming a key element of Meridian’s cultural memory bank. A past racially-segregated stairwell leading to balcony seating and a hidden-away social room that reputedly served as a speakeasy during Prohibition are among its features, and corridors are laced with memorabilia from visiting stars and Shriner activities. The Temple Theater is a living museum of sorts, and the adage “if walls could talk” certainly applies.