Firm working on renovation plans for Thalia Mara Hall

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Plans to renovate Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson for the USA International Ballet Competition, which opens on June 10, 2023, are moving forward.

The Jackson City Council voted on Nov. 22 to authorize the mayor to execute an agreement with Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons Architects and Engineers for $90,000 to complete architectural design services for the renovation.

The Friends of Thalia Mara Hall and the Community Foundation of Mississippi have contracted with Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons and have covered the expenses for the design development phase.

The renovation could include power washing the building and adding new guardrails/handrails, landscaping and sod, lighting, signage and wayfinding tools, new metal stairs at the loading platform and a new covered awning for the side of the building.

The renovation of the interior of the building could include installing new lighting, carpet, handrails in the theater, upgrades in the dressing rooms and electrical work. Also needed are lighting and sound improvements in the theater, music stands, seats and row labels for the pit seating, a symphony shell, curtain dividers at the mezzanine level and a wooden floor in the Green Room.

The state is providing $2 million for the project to improve the 54-year-old auditorium.

"It's a great building," David Lewis, deputy director of cultural services for the city of Jackson, told council members. "The bones are good. We’ll need to make repairs every few years."

When the plans are completed, bids will be taken for the actual work and work would get started as soon as possible, he said.

New as a permanent fixture on the plaza of Thalia Mara Hall will be a steel sculpture, by New York artist Jack Howard-Potter entitled "Dancer 12." The sculpture commemorates the twelfth time the competition will be held in Jackson.

The USA IBC was founded by Thalia Mara, namesake of the auditorium, and the first competition was held in Jackson in 1979. The USA IBC is the official international ballet competition in the United States by joint resolution of Congress.

About 100 dancers are scheduled to compete in the 2023 USA IBC.

https://www.northsidesun.com/firm-working-renovation-plans-thalia-mara-hall

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