NATCHEZ — From housing the former Natchez High School to spotlighting countless musical talent for the Natchez Music Festival, the Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center is near and dear to many.

And soon, the iconic Homochitto Street building will boast 70 repaired windows, along with other interior and exterior renovations.

“The windows were in really bad shape,” said Trevor Brown, deputy director of the Historic Natchez Foundation. “Pigeons were getting in, and rain was soaking the building.”

During their regular meeting Tuesday, the Natchez Board of Aldermen voted to fund $9,900 in repairs on the remaining 22 windows in the center’s courtyard.

Brown said those funds were needed because the city had exhausted $176,000 in grant money provided by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2011 to repair the center.

The city and the Natchez Festival of Music — the latter of which has been housed in the center since 1999 — each contributed $22,000 in matching funds for the grant.

The city does not charge the Natchez Festival of Music for use of the building, but school alumni and festival supporters have contributed time to repair the building in years past.

Aside from window repairs, Brown said the grant money was also used to repair the center’s roof, install new gutters and drain spouts and repair masonry in the southwest and front sections of the building.

“We’re going to have to do something with (the building) because it’s been in the best shape it’s been in for years given the grant we’ve received,” Natchez he said.

Currently, the property is owned by the city, Butch Brown said.

But that could change soon.

“There are two parties interested in it right now, but no offers have been made and nothing has materialized,” Butch Brown said.

During the state’s last legislative session, legislators lobbied for a bill — Senate Bill 2455 — that would fund $6 million in repairs for the center.

That bill died.

And while Butch Brown said the building warrants $6 million worth of repairs, he said the city simply doesn’t have the funds to support that need.

“The city is not prepared to expend more money on the building right now,” Butch Brown said.

However, the mayor said the building is in “tip-top shape,” and he expects it will entice more prospective buyers in the near future.

“It just needs some tender lovin’ care,” he said.

Money to repair the center’s remaining 22 windows will come from the city’s public properties budget.