 
Downtown Laurel receives revitalization workshop, July 20-24
Laurel receives Revitalization Workshop, July 20-24
LAUREL, MS- Laurel Express and the Mississippi Main Street Association will hold a Downtown Laurel Revitalization Workshop beginning July 20 focused on the beautification and economic development of downtown Laurel. A team of 10 professionals will conduct a week long workshop in which they will provide marketing and design solutions for the historical district. The final product will include a timeline of goals for Laurel Express, as well as marketing materials for downtown Laurel and for the Loblolly Festival that will be held in downtown on October 3.
The workshop team will conduct interviews with Laurel Express committees, as well as the general public throughout the week to help formulate a master plan to redevelop downtown both long and short term.
Companies involved in the workshop include Arnett Muldrow and Associates from Greenville, S.C., The LandPlan Group South from South Carolina, Mahan Rykiel Associates from Baltimore; and the Mississippi Main Sreet Association. The members of the workshop team are Randy Wilson (MMSA architect), Tripp Muldrow (urban planning), Ben Muldrow (marketing/branding), Rick McMackin (landscape architecture), Evan Wilson (landscape architecture), Tom McGilloway (landscape architecture), Nathan Scott (landscape design), Stacy Pair (MMSA), Jan Miller (MMSA) and Sam Agnew (MMSA).
This workshop is provided to Laurel Express as a benefit of membership in the Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA) and in conjunction with a design workshop for Heidelberg. The Economic Development Authority of Jones County is also helping to sponsor the workshop. Other Mississippi communities that have recently received similar workshops include Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Picayune, Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Carthage, Holly Springs, Water Valley and Eupora.
"I have worked on dozens of projects with these guys and have never seen a group of professionals that work so well together and are so selfless in their time and dedication to each community they work in," said Stacy Pair, southern district director of MMSA. "The amount of work they produce in just a few days is truly mind boggling. I am confident that they will be able to give both Laurel and Heidelberg the results each community needs."
Two public sessions will be held at the Laurel Train Depot, on North Maple Street in downtown, during the week of the workshop. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. The first session is a Public Input Session on Tuesday, July 21 at 5:30 p.m. The workshop team will welcome ideas and concerns about the downtown area to help target their design efforts. All are welcome to participate and those who attend will contribute their ideas to the revitalization of downtown Laurel. The Public Presentation, where the team members will present their final designs and analysis, will be held on Thursday, July 23 at 6 p.m. A full schedule of events can be found on the Laurel Express blog, found at http://www.laurelexpress.org .
Photo: Laurel Express/Main Street Manager Jackie Lee meets with the MMSA Charrette Team.
For more information, please email
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“Bikes, Blues and Bayous” in Greenwood August 1
"Ride the flat and fast alluvial plains of the Mississippi Delta!"
Saturday August 1st 2009
25 mile fun ride, 42 mile and a 64 mile tour
Register Here - http://www.bikesbluesbayous.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=site.display&page_id=2683
New Courses
Three courses: 64 mile loop around the Delta, a 42 and 25 mile out and back ride to Money. All three rides are flat and fast and supported with sag vehicles and course monitors.
Earlier Start Times
* 7:00am for the 42 & 64 mile course
* 7:30am for the 25 mile fun ride
Enhanced Rest Stops
New rest stops with facilities and refreshments.
Pre-Ride Happy Hour at The Alluvian Hotel 4:30-7:30 PM
Early packet pick-up and registration available at the pre-ride happy hour the night before at The Alluvian Hotel in Historic Downtown Greenwood.
Courtesy Overnight Bike Storage
Secure overnight bike storage with police surveillance to keep your ride safe.
Bike Racks
Newly constructed bike racks will be available to hold your bikes upright before and after the ride.
Post-Ride Party on the River
Hang out after the ride along the Yazoo River banks, enjoy refreshments, and talk about the ride.
Post-Ride Massages
American Massage Therapy Association therapists will be available to massage your aching muscles after the ride.
Citywide Sidewalk Sale
Saturday, August 1, 2009 Retailers will have special back to school savings and end of summer bargains. Shopping Sprees will be given away. Register at each participating store to be eligible to win. Shopping sprees will be one $100 spree and two $50 sprees.
Rhythm on the River
In cooperation with Bikes, Blues & Bayous, this coming August 1, Tallahatchie Flats will again present Rhythm on the River – a summer music festival. It all starts that Saturday around noon on the porch of the Red House. Live music will continue throughout the day with each musical outfit on a different front porch. Enjoy Spooney's BBQ, catfish and cold drinks, riverboat rides, helicopter rides & inflatable's for the kids. Its enjoyment for the whole family.
Weekend tickets are just $20 or book a Flat and the festival is free. Tickets will be available at Veronica's Bakery and other locations around town. Log onto http://www.tallahatchieflats.com or call 458-9154 for tickets and more info.
Mississippi Senate Resolution Honors Clinton’s Dr. Tracy
CLINTON'S DR. TRACY RECEIVES SENATE RESOLUTION, CONGRATULATIONS
JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Legislature recently passed a concurrent resolution congratulating Dr. Ryan Tracy of Clinton upon his receipt of the Mississippi Main Street Association's 2009 Paul Coggin Memorial Award.
Senate Concurrent Resolution NO. 505 recognized Tracy as "a leading citizen of Clinton, Mississippi" and extended to Tracy and his family "best wishes on the receipt of this prestigious award."
Tracy was honored with the award at a recent Mississippi Main Street Association Awards Luncheon held in Jackson. Volunteers and communities were nominated for awards in the categories of design, promotion, economic restructuring and organization as well as special awards.
The Paul Coggin Memorial Award is the highest special award given to an outstanding volunteer selected from among the 56 Main Street Programs statewide. The volunteer must have been active in a downtown organization for at least two years and contributed energy and dedication to downtown revitalization.
Tracy is a dentist and Main Street Clinton board member. He served two terms as Main Street Clinton's first president and set the standard for service to the program.
Through his efforts, the Main Street program secured an ongoing funding agreement with Mississippi College and Central Mississippi Medical Center totaling $70,000 in its first five years.
During his presidency, the Olde Towne Markets were started, which have renewed the community's interest in the downtown. Tracy also worked to design, fund and install a professional outdoor music system in Olde Towne Clinton.
Main Street Clinton Director Tara Lytal nominated Tracy for the significant award.
The Mississippi Main Street Association is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Mississippi Development Authority. Main Street is an economic development program based in historic preservation. Mississippi Main Street Association has many strategic partners in Mississippi including the Mississippi Development Authority, Mississippi Division of Tourism, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Mississippi Arts Commission, Mississippi Heritage Trust, Mississippi Urban Forestry Council and the Carl Small Town Center at the Mississippi State University School of Architecture.
Copy: Senate Concurrent Resolution NO. 505
Better Back Street Project Wins State Award
Last Thursday I was in Jackson for the annual Mississippi Main Street Awards luncheon. The weather was even hotter there than here and I was not thrilled to be wearing a long sleeve shirt and tie. My personal discomfort became insignificant and turned to elation when Water Valley Main Street’s Better Back Street project was awarded the prize for “Best Public Improvement Project” for 2008 for all of Mississippi’s 56 Main Street communities.
That’s right, that clean up, and painting and planting effort of last October on Duncan Street was judged to be the state winner. I was pretty thrilled at the award and many of my fellow Main Street managers congratulated us on the award. On the drive back from Jackson, I thought why did Water Valley win this?
Let me first give you a little background on how this project started. Two years ago, July 18, 2007, a group from the Mississippi State University’s First Impression project toured Water Valley. They made a 40 page document of the pros and cons of what they saw here in their one day tour. There was a comment about Duncan Street being a “real eyesore” and they listed it as one of the top five things they thought Water Valley could readily fix.
In April 2008, WVMSA’s first director Jessie Gurner received a call from Main Street HQ in Jackson, asking if WVMSA would like to participate in an Appalachian Regional Council (ARC) grant program.
The grant amount was 3 thousand dollars, needed volunteers to see it through and could be used for civic and economic improvement. She put the idea of the grant and the First Impression recommendation together and cajoled Annette Trefzer, Ramona Benard and me into going in June for a two day trip to Columbus to go through a grant initiation seminar.
Now it gets a bit complicated, the ARC contracts out to the Rensselaerville Institute, a non-profit group, to oversee the seminar and entire grant. The Tennessee Valley Authority along with the Mississippi Devel-opment Authority is also kicking in some of the funds and some decisions of what they would like to see projects accomplish. Mind you, Water Valley is not the only group there. Twenty groups from around the state are going through this same process. Each project is different, but the money people all want to see tangible results.
So Annette, Ramona and I named the project Better Back Street and chose the four Saturdays in October as our target time to clean, paint and polish up Duncan Street’s appearance. We asked for help and we got it.
Building and business owners like Jerry Burt, Bobby Turnage, and John Tatum came out and worked the street. Bill Warren painted signs. Cliff Lawson built picket fence enclosures. The bank presidents and vice presidents came out and sweated. Main Street members also pitched in. High school kids and church youth groups, groups that are not usually associated with downtown, came out and really worked hard.
We had 55 individual volunteers doing the dirty and gritty job of cleaning up urban grunge. They all put in hard and dirty time on some of the most gorgeous fall weekends I have seen in a long time. If I count all who had hand someway in the project the number climbs to 80. As for the money, from 3 thousand dollars in seed money we ended up with an additional 6 thousand in matching funds and effort from the community.
So the results are Duncan Street looks much better. One can now see the individual buildings and tell what they are. People are using the rear entrances more. There will be more rear entrances coming.
In a case of serendipity, Fred’s had a major make over of their store. Duncan Street is no longer an eyesore. It is not yet beautiful, but one can see things are happening and that the town’s people care about it.
So why did Water Valley win? Our project, I feel, captured the essence of what Main Street is all about. We had broad public and private support and funding. The combination of the two is critical. We had full support from the building and business owners, from Main Street as a whole and from ordinary citizens, all groups knowing that downtown spaces, whether public or privately held, are a common space for all residents to use and enjoy. I would like to thank all those who had a hand in the project, please stop by our Main Street office at 207 N. Main to have look. It is not a big trophy, but it does say “Best” in the state, period.
The Farmers Market last Saturday had 15 vendors. Produce is in. Come out and get the fresh stuff. Movie On Main is this Friday, July 3rd, at Panola and Main at dark. Come see Will Smith in “Independence Day”. And, no surprise, last week’s survey had A/C as the modern convenience most would not like to give up.
Visit http://www.watervalleymainstreet.com to vote on your favorite Duncan Street color.
By Mickey Howley
Manager, Water Valley Main Street Association
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Carthage Courthouse
Carthage is the geographic center of Mississippi and therefore an ideal location for businesses to grow and expand. |
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