Grand Opera House project in design phase

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
June 15, 2002
If all goes as planned, the formal opening of the Riley Education and Performing Arts Center will come in the fall of 2005.
Architects for the renovation and restoration of the Grand Opera House and Marks-Rothenberg Building will be in town later this month as they continue the design phase. Mississippi State University acquired the properties in September and selected two architectural firms earlier this year for the projects.
Pryor &Morrow Architects of Columbus was selected for the Marks-Rothenberg project. Martinez &Johnson Architecture of Washington, D.C., will handle the opera house renovation.
Bev R. Norment, special assistant to the president of MSU, said the project is now in its design phase, expected to last eight to 12 months, involving consultants, structural engineers and other specialists who are examining the interior and exterior of the buildings.
After the analysis, work will begin to remove all unattached items in the buildings.
Architects anticipate construction will take about two years.