Dunleith owners to buy Margaret Martin building from city

NATCHEZ, Miss. — The owners of Dunleith plan to buy the city-owned Margaret Margaret building, the former school that’s in need of extensive renovations to become the event venue being envisioned.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen  and Mayor Dan Gibson agreed today begin the process for selling the  Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center to Natchez resident Mike Blattner and his business partners.

Blattner told the board and mayor that the developers expect to spend more than $5 million to restore the 93-year-old building into a multipurpose center for various events and conferences with a spa and lodging accommodations. This will complement the similar offerings Dunleith will have next to the Margaret Martin campus. Blattner said it could also house a drama school.

Blattner is a partner with Dunleith’s new owners, who plan to reopen the antebellum bed-and-breakfast mansion, restaurant and event venue they purchased last November. The developer — The J Collection — is a New Orleans-based hotel group with plans to enhance the Homochitto Street properties as a tourist destination. Blattner said extensive refurbishments are being made to Dunleith. He expressed hopes it will reopen by the end of this year. Dunleith closed in 2019 after its previous owner went bankrupt.

The city has been struggling for years to maintain and rehabilitate the Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center, which for 21 years has been the home of the Natchez Festival of Music. A public-private campaign had been underway to raise funds for Margaret Martin’s refurbishment, and the state Legislature allocated $6 million for the aging structure’s renovations in 2019, but lawmakers rescinded it.

Named after the school’s former principal, it is a state-designated historic landmark built in 1927 as Natchez High School. After the Natchez-Adams School District closed what later became Margaret Martin Junior High School, the music festival moved into the Gothic Revival/Tudor-style building in 1999. The city, festival organization and state Department of Archives and History have spent funds over the years to maintain and repair the building.

An alliance of government and private partners was formed last year to revitalize the building. The group — led by Gibson before being elected mayor — hired architect Belinda Stewart to design plans for it. She estimated about $6 million is needed to refurbish Margaret Martin.

While Stewart said the building has “good bones,” it has a variety of structural problems. It has suffered water damage from years of leaks; has a sagging auditorium floor; requires modifications to make it more accessible for the disabled; needs a new roof and fire-sprinkler system.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen has previously had prospective takers for the Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center, but those acquisitions fell through.