A year after stifling heat forced organizations with offices at the Mississippi Arts Center in downtown Jackson to find other places to work, the news is finally good.
Work is under way to install a new chiller on the roof of the building at 201 E. Pascagoula St. and it should be completed by the start of June.
“That will put cool air in the building,” said David Lewis, deputy director of cultural services for the city of Jackson. “We are very close.”
The team installing the chiller will determine if additional work needs to be done, he said, noting that that is not expected to be the case.
Lewis said he worked to identify all the various parts and pieces that need to be upgraded and address them to ensure that the repair is a long term one and not just a short-term one.
Supply chain issues brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic caused repeated delays in the shipment of the equipment.
The city drafted an emergency declaration, which is typically used in dire situations after a storm merits remediation, to move the project ahead, but that didn’t seem to help.
“It took us forever to get a company to give us a quote,” Lewis said.
The city sought quotes for the job from four companies and initially received a response from only one company, he said.
The city council approved a resolution to issue up to $5.5 million in general obligation bonds from the Mississippi Development Bank for the repair of the HVAC unit at the arts center and to renovate the Russell C. Davis Planetarium.
The Arts Center houses the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the USA International Ballet Competition, the Greater Jackson Arts Council, Opera Mississippi, Art For All Mississippi and the International Museum of Muslim Cultures.
The arts organizations pay no rent for use of the Arts Center because of a longstanding agreement with the city of Jackson, which is responsible for the upkeep of the building.
Mona Nicholas, executive director of the USA International Ballet Competition, hopes the AC is working when she returns from a trip to Finland for the ninth Helsinki International Ballet Competition, which is scheduled through June 6.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she said after being told that the AC in the arts center should be working soon.
A sponsor of the USA IBC has provided Nicholas office space at the Pinnacle building while the AC has been out.
The next USA IBC is scheduled June 10-24, 2023, and the IBC’s office in the arts center is especially convenient during the competition, which is held at neighboring Thalia Mara Hall, she said.
The renovation of the restrooms in the arts center so they are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act awaits completion, said Nicholas, who was told litigation with the contractor has brought the work to a halt.
It looks like the renovation of the Russell C. Davis Planetarium, which is next to the arts center, will be in full force when the IBC gets underway next year, she said.
“Our competitors go to the convention center, the arts center, Thalia Mara Hall, the Westin, the Mississippi Museum of Art and we’ll have a big construction site right there,” she said.
David Keary, artistic and executive director of Ballet Mississippi that had to move classes to the Mississippi Museum of Art and a facility in Madison, credits Lewis and Alexis McGrigg, the arts center manager, with moving the project forward.
“David and Alexis have been working really hard to get this issue straightened out,” he said.
“I believe them and trust their judgement on this issue. We are all looking forward to starting back in the Mississippi Arts Center.”
