In the past few years, Jackson, MS has undergone some serious changes. The biggest and most notable has been the reopening of the King Edward Hotel, a history building in downtown Jackson that now boasts a Hilton hotel, restaurant/lounge, and luxury apartments. The Standard Life building is being renovated, the Farish Street district is being revived, and Fondren is growing.
Now, Mayor Harvey Johnson and several developers have turned their attention to west Jackson.
From the
Jackson Free Press:
Johnson told a crowd at Koinonia Coffee House that the city had purchased a section of the Metrocenter Mall, and intended to see the mall develop into a project combining the government administration, private businesses and residential neighborhoods. The plans, which fit in with the city's goal of improving the Highway 80 corridor, would the branch the mall into two sections, the proper, containing office and retail space and Metrocenter South--an open-air shopping center adjacent to the proposed Metrocenter South Parkway, which could re-channel traffic from Lynch Street.
He said other projects in the Highway 80 corridor include investing in a $7 million facility to house the city's buses between Terry Road and Ellis Avenue. The city is also looking to develop the area directly behind the SAKs Operations Center, near the Interstate 20 and Highway 80 intersection, and to renovate the 20,000 square-foot site of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality headquarters into an entertainment center. He also touched on plans for a series of potential development projects, including industrial parks, residential areas, parks and bike trails along the Highway 80 corridor between Terry Road and the Metrocenter Mall.
Johnson listed numerous projects in the downtown city area, such as new entertainment venues opening in the Farish Street Entertainment District and the available residential property in the recently renovated Standard Life Building, but he also said the city wanted to focus on the Jackson Zoo, a park with a surrounding neighborhood that has grown old and dilapidated around it.
"Livingston Park is an important part of the zoo property. The city hasn't done as much as it's needed to do, so we've committed ... to entering into some partnerships with the Zoo Foundation and the (Mississippi) Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to rehabilitate that park," Johnson said.
Mayor Johnson is serious about this being "the New South," and I, for one, am encouraged by his efforts. You think this is something? Jackson, MS is just beginning to thrive!
