Arts Council Acquires New Building

The Montgomery County Arts Council is pleased to announce its acquisition of the old Ellis Hardware building in downtown Winona. This building will be the new home of Hill Fire.

In July 2007 MCAC announced its receipt of a $250,000.00 matching grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission which would make it possible for the unique home of Hill Fire to become a year-round theater without disturbing the rich history of the building. When the process of obtaining the grant to restore the old show barn began, the arts council never dreamed that it would run into so many obstacles. Unfortunately, they were informed that it is not feasible nor economical to enclose a pole barn that was built to be an open air building. To remodel the building would cost close to a million dollars and the end result would not be what what the arts council had envisioned. Their beloved barn would no longer be the historical building as it had been known. It would have ended up as a new metal building which would enclose the performance area. That is certainly not what was intended.

After getting the disappointing news about the barn, the only alternative was to build from scratch or to go in search of another building. The Board of Directors decided it would be in the best interest of the arts council to find an existing building. But that building had to be an historical building that would be suitable for use as a theater and one which could be restored and remodeled within their budget. And the arts council wanted it to be located in the downtown Winona area.

They were fortunate to find everything they were looking for in the Ellis Hardware building. The building was originally a Ford dealership built in the early 1900s. The Ford logo can still be seen on the front of the building.

The grant has been transferred to the new building and fundraising for the matching funds will begin shortly.

MCAC Receives Mississippi Arts Commission Grant

"Lost" From left: Nell Middleton, Paula McCaulla, President of the Montgomery County Arts Council, Judy Cleary, Mississippi Arts Commission, and Elizabeth Eldridge

Judi Cleary, director of Grants and Programs with the Mississippi Arts Commission, was guest speaker at the Winona Rotary Club this past Friday, April 6, 2007. In her presentation, she made the announcement that the Montgomery County Arts Council has been awarded a $150,000.00 BFA grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.

The grant, a portion of the $2 million the Commission will award in its Building Fund for the Arts Initiative, will be used to make much needed renovations to the Hill Fire Barn located on Alberta Drive in Winona, including a new roof and an enclosed, climate controlled theater.

The Mississippi Arts Commission’s Building Fund for the Arts (BFA) program, which awarded $18 million in grants to state communities in the last five years, has awarded an additional $2 million this year. Since October 2001, the commission has funded 89 projects in 57 towns for the renovation repair, expansion, enhancement and construction of cultural facilities representing both urban and rural areas around the state. Last year the Mississippi legislature allowed for construction of new facilities in the event it was not feasible or cost effective to renovate existing facilities. Following a panel review, the Commission Board of Directors approved 13 applications around the state.

The BFA program, funded through general obligation bonds, is designed to give the arts a stronger presence within Mississippi’s communities. BFA depends on strong and strategic local partnerships. Funding from the Commission can total up to 60 percent of a project’s final cost, but grantees are required to raise matching funds before state monies are disbursed.. MCAC will have to raise $100,000.00 to match this grant.

Ms. Cleary also told the Rotarians that the Mississippi Arts Commission helps make dreams come true for arts communities. That is surely the case here in Winona with money from MAC making it possible for Winona High School to make renovations to its auditorium and now making it possible for the unique home of Hill Fire to become a year round theater without disturbing the rich history of the building.

Ms. Cleary went on to tell the group that Governor Barbour wants the story of Mississippi told through the arts. The Montgomery County Arts Council intends to continue to do just that through its Hill Fire projects.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the Mississippi legislature, the national Endowment for the Arts, The Wallace Foundation and other private sources.