By RINDY METCALF

Staff Writer

Lights flicker, giving the "five minutes until show time" warning as audience members scramble to their seats.

A crackle of excitement reverberates throughout the theater as the spectators anticipate the opening of velvet curtains and the beginning of a performance they will not soon forget.

Board members for the Dixie Center for the Arts, located at 212 N. Vienna St., hope the re-opening of the theater will spark new interest in the Ruston landmark.

Michelle Sills, president of the Dixie Center for the Arts board, said, "The Dixie, when it opens, will be a great attraction for our local people and for tourists."

Sills also said the re-opening of the Dixie will contribute to the development of downtown Ruston by bringing more business to the restaurants in the area.

"I get excited every time I consider the potential, what it can be and what it can do for Ruston," Sills said.

Sills said not only will the Dixie have a place for theater performances, but it will also be a venue for symphony performances, artistic demonstrations and various dance and musical classes.

"When the building is finished, we will have space available for the artists who have classes and lectures [at the center]," Sills said. "It's not just a theater, it's an art center."

Sills said the board's mission for the center is that it will be the home and the heart for North central Louisiana and its cultural life. She also said the renovation of the building will involve the restoration of the original building and the addition of new wings and stories.

"There will be 650 seats when the theater is complete," Sills said.

The renovation of the theater is made possible by the $838,000 donation made by private citizens, local performers and area businesses and the $1,250,000 matching grant from the state.

Sills said bids from contractors are scheduled to be received in March and construction will begin soon after that.

"The first phase should be finished within approximately a year," Sills said. "We will continue to raise money, so the building can continue to grow until we have a final project, which will be never because the theater can always improve."

Sills said the building qualified for the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The board is trying to restore the original building in the front, and the marquee to hold up the integrity of its original design.

Matt Willemsen, an assistant professor of art, said he and Jude Landry, a graduate student of art, volunteered their time to help the Dixie develop a new identity for the proposed Dixie Center for the Arts.

"The objective throughout the design process for the new logo was to relate to and synergize with the most identifiable existing Dixie icon: its neon, pulsating marquee," Willemsen said.

Willemsen said the entire process from initial project brief to completed logo took several months.

"Our experience was very positive, and it was a pleasure working with the Dixie to realize the new identity," Willemsen said.

Landry said he originally became involved with the renovation of the Dixie when he began an ad campaign class in fall 2002.

"We created a campaign for the Dixie's reopening by designing a new logo and even several possible posters," Landry said.

"I was chosen, along with two other students from the class, to present our campaigns to the Dixie."

Landry said although none of their campaigns were what the Dixie board was looking for, by the spring they still needed help creating a new logo and he got the opportunity to help.

Landry said the revamped logo focuses people's attention on the most unique aspect of the building: the marquee.

"The star logo's rounded corners mimic the neon bulbs that illuminate the Dixie every night."