By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
May 18, 2004
The executive director of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center told Lauderdale County supervisors Monday that a corporate sponsor wants to bring Faith Hill to Meridian for a concert.
Charlotte Tabareaux said the concert could help boost fund-raising efforts for the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center. She said it may be possible to get Hill and her husband, Tim McGraw, to perform.
Plans for the Arts and Entertainment Center at Bonita Lakes include a concert hall; a 5,000-seat amphitheater; an artists-in-residence village; a Choctaw Cultural Center; and a Hall of Fame.
Hill, a native of Star, is one of many artists with Mississippi ties who have allowed their names and images to be used as a marketing tool to help develop the center at an estimated cost of $54.5 million.
Creation of the center and its location was authorized by the Legislature, but no money has been appropriated by the state to build it. Funding is being sought from individuals, corporations and grants.
Tabareaux also said the center is continuing its efforts to get Kosciusko native Oprah Winfrey involved in the project.
Other artists originally from Mississippi who are associated with the project include Lance Bass, Jimmy Buffet, Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, B.B. King, Britney Spears, Marty Stuart and Meridian native Sela Ward.