A $10 million commitment from the Riley Foundation is helping pave the way for a proposed education and conference center that would occupy historic buildings in downtown Meridian.

Plans outlined in early February call for converting the 1890 Grand Opera House and the adjacent 1889 Marks-Rothenberg Building into a state-of-the-art center that would spur economic development and downtown revitalization. A 500-car drive-up parking garage would be built nearby.

Mississippi State President Malcolm Portera announced the project, which is being coordinated by the university.

The $10 million gift from the Riley Foundation was the first component of what supporters hope will be a $26 million fund for renovation and construction needed to create the Riley Education and Performing Arts Center. The city of Meridian and Lauderdale County have committed another $10 million. Other support is being sought from federal sources.

Plans for the Riley Center also call for annual operating appropriations from the state Legislature and an additional $5 million endowment raised from private gifts to help permanently fund operation and maintenance.

The Grand Opera House opened in 1890. For years during the pre-motion picture Vaudeville era, it was the venue of such stars as George Gershwin, Will Rogers, Sara Bernhardt, and Helen Hayes. The historic building has been unused for decades and is in serious disrepair. The adjacent Marks-Rothenberg Building was a department store until 1990 and now is vacant.

The 38,000-sq. ft. Marks-Rothenberg Building would become an education and conference center including interactive classrooms and teleconferencing facilities, and could serve as a downtown campus for both MSU-Meridian and Meridian Community College.

One of the first academic programs to use the conference center could be MSU's School of Architecture, which already uses the opera house as the basis for studies in historic preservation and restoration.

Meridian-born actress Sela Ward is a longtime proponent of reviving the opera house and has agreed to assist with fund raising and other efforts related to the project, Portera said.