Markay Cultural Arts Center celebrates grand opening

JACKSON – A renovation that has been 19 years and $2 million in the making is finally complete. The Markay Cultural Arts Center in Jackson will host its grand opening event at 11 a.m. Saturday.

"We are giddy with excitement," Barbara Summers, executive director of the Southern Hill Arts Council, said. "We had a tech rehearsal and it had us grinning ear to ear."

Saturday's grand opening will be free to the public. Live performances will take place every hour, and there will be a gallery display by the late Caley Summers, and walls of photos and artifacts.

"We want to give back to the community, and what better way to do that than to throw a day-long party and showcase a lot of local talent," Summers said.

The decision to renovate the old theater from a movie hall to a live music venue not only met needs of the community, but was partly necessary. An agreement kept the council from doing first-run movies in the building, so they went with something different.

"There's no place for much in the way of live performances so it seemed like the next logical step," Summers said. "We have the ability to do classics or independent films, but not first-runs."

The Markay Cultural Arts Center operated as a movie theater from the time it opened in 1930 until the early 1990s. At which point, the owner exchanged the building with the city for a break in debt he owed to the city of Jackson. The city leases the building to the Southern Hill Arts Council for use at the rate of $1 per year under the condition the council will renovate, operate and maintain the premises.

According to Summers, little up-keep had been done on the building prior to the city taking possession. The council faced an uphill battle with repairs, everything from the leaking roof to the stage floor needing attention.

But they accepted the challenge, and 19 years later are ready to reveal the finished product. Part of the reason it has taken so long, Summers said, is because of the cost. After countless fundraisers, sales and donations, the $2 million price tag is not hanging over anyone's head.

"We've paid for every step. There is no debt on the building," Summers said.

The building has, however, been in use during the renovation stages. The former lobby area was opened in 1997 and has been used for receptions and exhibits. Other parts of the building have gradually opened up as their renovations were completed and used as meeting rooms.

Now that everything is complete, the first paid performance will be August 8, and Summers hopes to have a show book the stage at least once a week into the foreseeable future.

If you go...

When: Saturday, August 1 at 11 a.m.

Where: Markay Cultural Arts Center 269 E. Main St. Jackson, OH

More information can be found at http://www.markayjackson.org/