In 1999, our beloved Natchez High School building, which had been basically closed up and neglected after the opening of the new Natchez High School in 1961-62, was leased to the Natchez Opera Festival, Inc. by the City of Natchez, which owns the property. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Properties, as was our Band Hall.
Sadly, in spite of years of begging from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and others for work to stabilize the Band Hall and Field House, this was not done; and that building was demolished a few years ago. Prior to being closed as a school, the school building had been renamed in honor of Miss Margaret Martin.
Upon our leasing of the building, it became known as Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center. Many of our former classmates helped in 1999-2000 in funding and working to restore the building to a usable condition. Each May since that time, the Natchez Opera Festival, Inc., doing business as the Natchez Festival of Music, has presented a month-long music festival at Martin, bringing world-class performers to enrich our community with their talents and their gorgeous music.
This year we are organizing our 20th Anniversary and are excited over the plans for our presentations. The Festival and its supporters have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve the building and to make it usable for this wonderful annual event.
The Festival annually generates approximately $2 million for the local economy, bringing people from all over the nation and around the world to Natchez to enjoy this fabulous cultural event. It has been recognized as one of the top events in the Southeastern United States, has received several Governor’s awards for the arts, and continues to receive grants from the Mississippi Arts Commission. The festival has been recognized in Opera News, and has received numerous other awards and recognitions.
While the auditorium has undergone major updating, including central air-conditioning and heat, painting, upholstering of the seats, and many other improvements, the building still has some tremendous needs. Although the buidling is stable and the City has repaired the roof, there are still many areas that need attention. There was still neglect in timely roof repairs, and some of the work done previously has not survived too well.
The Board of Directors of the Natchez Festival of Music is working to improve the status of the building, and we truly need your assistance. The bathrooms are deplorable; many of the fixtures in them are unworkable, to say the least. Paint is peeling or lacking in many rooms. Some rooms need the floor tiles replaced. Even the rusted-out water fountain in the front hall needs to be replaced. There is no heating or cooling in many rooms. The electrical system has not been updated throughout the building. Basically, there are vast needs.
In an effort to make the building more usable not only for the Natchez Festival of Music but also for other compatible community uses, we are trying to raise funds for repairs and renovations. We have thought that each class could request a $10 donation from class members; but, of course, any major or even larger donations of funds, supplies, or work are needed. In order to allow people to see what needs exist, we are opening the building to the public to come look and exchange ideas on Monday, July 20, at 5:30.
We are organizing a competition among classes with the following categories: 1. The highest percentage of donating classmates, based on living class members. 2. The highest amount raised by a class.
The winners will be announced at a major party/concert at Martin on Wednesday, September 9, at which time the Festival will kick off our Twentieth Anniversary Season with some of our most popular artists -- Will Earl Spanheimer, Jessica Bunchman, and Michael Bunchman -- performing very popular Broadway-type songs.
Please have someone in your class designated as a contact person to work with the class to see what you can accomplish to help with this. If anyone would like to make a donation to help with this project, please make a check to: Natchez Festival of Music. This is a 501C3 organization.
Your donations can be turned over to your designated class member or mailed to the Natchez Festival of Music, P.O. Box 2207, Natchez, Mississippi 39121, and designated for MMPAC with your class year so that your class can be credited. Of course, people may make donations in honor of someone or as a memorial to someone. Remember friends, classmates, teachers, and family members who have been connected to Natchez High School.
Please join in this project to preserve our former Natchez High School building so that it can continue to be enjoyed for the present and for generations to come, and so that it will appropriately represent the great pride which we all take in the wonderful education and lifelong friendships we received there!
