FERRIDAY &8212; Architectural plans for a new performing arts center next door to the Delta Music Museum will be presented later in the month, museum officials said.

After that, it&8217;s out of their hands.

&8220;We&8217;ll take the plans to the Division of Facility and Planning in Baton Rouge; they&8217;ll review it and decide about the money,&8221; said Louis Morris, museums coordinator for the secretary of state&8217;s office.

&8220;We&8217;re taking it one step at a time.&8221;

The center would become part of the Delta Music Museum. The secretary of state&8217;s office purchased the land containing the old theater and began the process of designing the performance arts venue early in 2005.

With the state meeting in special session trying to grapple with budgetary shortcomings in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, local museum representatives are nervous &8212; but hopeful &8212; the new performance center will get built.

&8220;It would be such an asset to the parish and to Adams County as well,&8221; said Rena Pitts, president of the Friends of the Delta Music Museum Foundation.

The center could host school plays to concerts, sock hops to old movies &8212; &8220;all kinds of programs to showcase the different aspects of the delta,&8221; Pitts said.

The foundation has been an active and vocal proponent of the addition, which would incorporate elements of the fa?ade from the original Arcade Theater.

The theater, built in 1926, burned down once and was severely damaged by a second fire.

Because of structural damage and more stringent safety codes, the current theater will be torn down.

Museum director Judith Bingham said the new arcade would be a feather in the Miss-Lou&8217;s tourism cap and that she&8217;s optimistic it will get funded.

&8220;But I&8217;m going to be nervous until they start hammering the nails,&8221; she said.

Economic belt-tightening in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has taken a toll on several local non-profits. The Delta Music Museum hopes it won&8217;t be added to the list.

&8220;We&8217;re hopeful that this is one of the ones that doesn&8217;t (get cut),&8221; Pitts said. &8220;That&8217;s all we can do.&8221;

The museum has some things going for it, namely the support of the state legislative delegation and the endorsement of Secretary of State Al Ater, a parish native whose office oversees the museum.

&8220;They&8217;re behind it and are big assets to Concordia Parish and the area,&8221; Pitts said. If the plans get funded, soliciting bids would be the next step.

Architect Sam Short of Baton Rouge is drawing up the plans.