In 1920, Oxford parents and community leaders set out to build a larger elementary school. A proposed mill tax would have taken years to raise the money, so the Loyal Loan School League organized a bond sale and invited community patrons to help fund the project.

Brothers Frank and Jesse Cleckler built the $40,000 school, which opened in April 1921 as the Oxford Loyal Loan School. It was later renamed Oxford Elementary School and served generations of local students. The steam-heated building was a significant investment for Oxford and remained in use as a school until classes moved to newer facilities in 1952.

After the school relocated, the City of Oxford purchased the building in 1951. City Hall opened there in June 1952 under Mayor Hemphill Whiteside. The former school housed the mayor and city clerk, along with the police and fire departments and municipal court, bringing several public services together at one downtown address.

The building continued to serve city government for decades. Municipal offices moved to a new City Hall in December 2001, but the police department remained at the site until 2009, when it moved to the Oxford Justice Center. The basement jail cells from the building’s years as a police station remain in place and can be seen on OPAC tours.

In 2011, the Oxford City Council approved plans to convert the former school and City Hall into a state-of-the-art performing arts center. The City awarded a contract to Hale Building Company. Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood designed the project, with Mike Hamrick as chief architect.

The renovation preserved the original building’s brick exterior, pine floors and columns, while an addition extending toward Snow Street created a 1,200-seat theater. OPAC opened on May 17, 2013, with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Today, the center includes a main theater, a 200-seat Studio theater and two art galleries, and presents touring performances, concerts, school shows and arts education programs.