The Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center will soon get some needed work done, thanks to a state grant and a generous donation.

Hedy Bolte and Jennifer Ogden, two Natchez residents spearheading a new arts council in town, presented the city with a $50,000 donation to restore some of the interior work, such as reupholstering the auditorium seats, improving the air system and replacing drapes.

The arts council had previously looked at Margaret Martin as a starting place for a future comprehensive arts center, Bolte said, and the council hoped to help those already involved in the arts.

“We thought the people who were already there would be the first people to support,” Bolte said. “The first phase is to help the opera become the most comfortable and viable it can be, for Natchez residents and for its guests.”

The timing is important since the Natchez Festival of Music, part of which is held in the building, is coming up in May.

The board of aldermen passed a resolution accepting the donation at Friday’s special meeting, since the city owns the building and leases it to the Festival. Several board members thanked the group for the donation.

Then, Building Official Paul Dawes suggested the city help the building by replacing its windows and painting, caulking and glazing around them, which would cost roughly $35,000, he said.

Roughly 70 of the building’s windows were broken by vandals earlier this month.

He also suggested the city replace some of the building’s piping, $500 worth of repair, and replace rotting wooden signs that stand in front of the building, which could be done by public works.

The roof needed some minor repair work that could be done for less than $500, Dawes said.

The total for repair work would be roughly $37,000, he said. The city could get more than $20,000 for the work from grant money already promised by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, he said. The city would need to pay the rest.

Most of the board members wanted to approve the money immediately. Alderman James “Ricky” Gray said he would like to hold off voting on spending the money until City Clerk Donnie Holloway had a chance to review the numbers and see if the city could afford it.

Holloway said the money currently in the public buildings fund came from the sale of the land on the corner of Canal and Main streets to developers who are building a hotel.

After planning officials presented a new city code, which the city will take up after public review, the board voted to move ahead with the Margaret Martin repairs. Gray had stepped out and was not present for the vote. He returned after the board had entered executive session. Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis was not present at the meeting.