Riley Center
Grand Opera House | |
Grand Opera House in 2018 | |
| Location | Meridian, Mississippi |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°21′50″N 88°42′0″W / 32.36389°N 88.70000°W |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | Gustavus Maurice Torgerson; C.M. Rubush |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian, Empire/Romanesque |
| Visitation | ~63,000 (2007) |
| MPS | Meridian MRA (AD) |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000696 |
| USMS No. | 075-MER-0086-NR-ML |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 27, 1972 |
| Designated USMS | June 7, 1991 |
The Riley Center, also known as the Grand Opera House and formally as the Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts, is a performing arts and conference center in Meridian, Mississippi. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Grand Opera House and the adjacent Marks-Rothenberg Department store were built in 1889 by half-brothers Israel Marks and Levi Rothenberg. The opera house was a site for entertainment and theatre for decades.
In addition to the extensive theater renovation, the Riley Center project redeveloped the department store as a conference facility. Together the theater and conference space make up the Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts, owned and operated by Mississippi State University-Meridian Campus.