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Posted Aug 19, 2023, 10:03 PM
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Join Date: May 2023
Location: JXN Mississippi
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Massive $100M town center in Madison will be unlike anything in the state, mayor says
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Atlanta-based Greenstone Properties will develop the 17 acres.
Vision for a town center has been decades in the making.
Development to include restaurants, hotel, grocery store and a performance arts center.
Construction on the center slated to begin in about a year, developer says.
Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler has been hinting at it for the last several months.
However, there was no formal announcement on the development of a massive town center in the heart of Madison until Wednesday.
"We dreamed big," Hawkins-Butler said as she spoke to fellow city officials, workers and residents.
"I know of no other city in the state of Mississippi that has built a downtown town center from scratch. It's not a leisure center. It's not a strip mall. It's a town center," she said.
This schematic shows a $100 million mixed-use development in the heart of Madison called "Madison at Main." The project was unveiled at a news conference on Jan. 8 2020.
Restaurants, grocery store, hotel and more
The mayor then explained the details of the project, called the Madison at Main, a $100 million mixed-used development that will become the heart of the city's downtown district.
The development, which will stretch over 17 acres and possibly more, will include several restaurants, condominiums and town homes, a specialty grocery store, a 125-room hotel, a parking garage, the relocation of City Hall, and the opening of a performing arts center.
The city block of developments will be bound by Main Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the south and Highway 51 to the east.
All told, Madison at Main will include the following:
A specialty grocery store similar to Whole Foods
Fine dining and fast casual restaurants
The city's first parking garage
The relocation of City Hall
The opening of a performing arts center
About 52 condominiums and town home units
125-room hotel
200,000 square feet of office space
Over 125,000 square feet of retail space.
The city will retain possession of two properties, or roughly 2 acres of the overall development. The historic Madison-Ridgeland High School building will become Madison's new City Hall.
The gymnasium of the old school will be transformed into a performing arts center that seats a thousand. The city is looking for someone to put their name on the building, Hawkins Butler said.
Madison at Main the culmination of decades of planning
The project has been a dream of the mayor and city officials for decades.
With that aim in place, the city has held off on the development of individual parcels, patiently awaiting the right development opportunity.
That came when the city and Atlanta-based real estate and development company, Greenstone Properties, came to terms, the reason for the Wednesday news conference.
"We could have sold parcels off many many times, but we held onto the dream and vision...we had to have the right developer. This developer understands what we want. It's a unique project and something they want to do," the mayor said.
Who is Madison at Main developer Greenstone Properties?
Greenstone has several developments across the country.
One of the company's partners, Chris Schoen, explained Greenstone is developing more and more mixed-use projects in downtown city areas that include "a number of pieces" such as office, retail, entertainment, dining and lodging options.
"This kind of development is what we're good at," Schoen said Wednesday.
One example is a 35-acre multi-use development located on the Savannah River in South Carolina near the gates of Augusta National, the host of the annual Masters Golf Tournament. The project includes a 180-room hotel, 280 apartments, office and retail space and a Minor League baseball stadium.
A $100 million mixed-use development in Madison called Madison at Main has been in the works for many years, said Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler at a news conference on Jan. 8, 2020.
What's the timeline for Madison at Main?
The mayor said the next step is for the city to hire a company to begin demolition.
Shoen on Thursday said he is finalizing details with project investors to get their feedback on the overall plans, such as parking, which he said will occur over the next three to four months.
Since planning, permitting and architectural review will take about another six months, Shoen said his hope is to begin construction in about a year.
He said the overall investment in the development could surpass the $100 million commitment that is now in place.
"If the market can bear more and we can build larger office buildings because of leasing velocity and size of tenants, we can build more and thus the overall project cost will rise," he said.
Madison at Main will be designed to provide 'a sense of place'
The morning after the news conference, Hawkin-Butler's enthusiasm over the project remained unabated. She described it as a huge step forward for the city, one that will give Madison a larger sense of identity.
"We've never had what's considered a downtown square. In the early '80s, we determined we had to create that sense of place, a heartbeat for your downtown. This is where you bring your families to have dinner, to shop, to have entertainment, to walk and to gather."
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https://www.clarionledger.com/story/...pi/4418592002/
Liberty Street restoration located on the historic square in Canton, MS.
https://tch-ms.com/historical-restor...mes-buildings/
First Ridgeland Undergoing Major Expansion
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One church on West Jackson Street in Ridgeland is expanding while another is starting over.
First Ridgeland has a more than $3 million construction project underway, while the neighboring congregation, which was once known as Ridgeland First United Methodist Church, is finding its way as Old Town Wesley Church after members voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Conference.
Come this fall, members of First Ridgeland expect to begin using an outdoor central plaza and an interior with an expanded main entrance, café and more.
After the construction is completed, the building that houses the sanctuary will feature an updated exterior.
“What we were trying to do was modernize the look we had,” said Derrick Cowan, executive pastor of First Ridgeland, which is located at 302 W. Jackson St. “We wanted to keep the aesthetic but push it to the edge.”
The expansion, which will add more than 5,000 square feet, will result in a larger entrance that will better accommodate members as they come and go on Sundays after the 9 a.m. service and before the 10:30 a.m. service.
“We began designing a place we refer to as the central plaza so we could welcome everyone in a main entrance and provide a café space and a counseling space and make updates to the restrooms and the broadcast and security office,” Cowan said.
The restrooms needed attention. “It would be nothing to see the women’s restroom line 12 or 15 deep,” Cowan said.
Five years ago, the church renovated its Community Life Center that is across the street from the church campus, added a drive-through and doubled the number of parking spaces. The new entrance to the church will line up with a new crosswalk that is in the middle of the parking lot and make it more convenient to access.
Kent Design Build, a general contractor that handles both design and build, is responsible for the addition, Cowan said. The church launched a Kickstarter Campaign and reached it goal, he said. BankPlus helped by restructuring some church debt, he said.
Formerly known as First Baptist Church of Ridgeland and dating to the 1960s, First Ridgeland has about 1,100 members. “On Sundays, we run about 900 people,” Cowan said.
First Ridgeland is known as a big church with a small church feel, he said.
“It’s place where everyone will know your name,” he said. “You’ll be greeted by multiple people from the time you drive your car here and leave. There’s not a lot of pretense. It’s real people doing life together.”
The church operates a food pantry each Tuesday that provides food for about 125 families weekly. Partners include the Mississippi Food Network, Watkins Roofing and BankPlus. “People start lining up at 5 a.m. in the Community Life Center parking lot,” he said.
The church also operates a pre-school that is attended by about 300 children (infants to four years old) and includes an after-school program.
“Our facility is used every day for the benefit of the community we serve,” Cowan said. “Our new central plaza will be no different. Our long-term plan is for the café to be open to the community to purchase coffee and meet friends. We want to use it during the week like a coffee shop. We should be able to do that in early January.”
Cowan, age 37, began working part-time at First Ridgeland when he was a sophomore at Mississippi College and became executive pastor at the church about eight years ago. He and some of the church’s charter members and senior adults traveled to Chicago in 2012 and got a glimpse of what the church could become.
“We served and slept on the floor all week in a Salvation Army Shelter that served that community,” he said. “We saw that they were using that facility every day to benefit this community and said, ‘Why can’t we do this in Ridgeland?’ That’s when our focus became outwardly focused.”
The church had 60 members when Cowan went to work there and last year added 140 members and so far, this year has added another 80 members.
“The potential in the community is unlimited,” he said. “We’ve never stopped fulfilling our mission.”
Located at 324 W. Jackson St., Old Town Wesley Church meets for worship in the sanctuary at 10:45 a.m. and has a covered dish lunch after the service on the second Sunday of each month.
The church has a grief support group that meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. and Women of Wesley meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous meets in the church fellowship hall Monday through Friday at noon, Saturday at 10 a.m. and Monday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
A fall festival is scheduled on Oct. 14 at Old Town Wesley Church.
Storms in mid-June blew down the original building of Ridgeland First United Methodist Church. It is thought the chapel was built around 1890, dedicated for the first time in 1896 and was originally an Episcopal Church on Old Canton Road. The Methodist church purchased it in 1901 and moved it from its location to the corner of West Jackson and Perkins streets.
It was the congregation’s first church building and used as the sanctuary until the 1950s when it was moved to the side of their education building and a new sanctuary was built. It remained there as a Sunday school building and fellowship hall until the early 1990s when it was moved to the back corner on Perkins and Maple streets where it once stood.
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https://www.northsidesun.com/first-r...?e_term_id=120
MDOT Estimates Canton Mart Road Repairs Complete in Two Months
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The Mississippi Department of Transportation is in the process of surveying the I-55 underpass at Canton Mart Road so it can move forward with repairs needed after a trash fire on July 10. Michael Flood, a spokesperson for MDOT, said the plans for the bridge are complete. “They’re waiting final surveying efforts from the district as they will need to mill the remaining asphalt to get ...
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https://www.northsidesun.com/mdot-es...&e_sort_order=
Canton High School football field gets new artificial turf
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CANTON, Miss. (WLBT) - As public schools kick off their football season with jamborees tonight, the Canton High School football field is getting a new look.
The Canton Tigers are ready to dominate and make their mark on the newly rolled-out turf. School leaders say it’s a historic project that’s been a long time coming.
The mighty Tigers are not only getting in shape for another exciting season, but they are also ready to execute in a big way on the new artificial turf. “It’s huge for us, it’s huge for the community, and we look forward to doing big things on this turf,” said Calvin Bolton, Canton High School Head Football Coach.
The school board and other officials agree that it was time to upgrade the field like never before. The new turf features different colors along the goal lines for a unique touch.
“It gives kids the illusion that when you get to the 20-yard line, you are in the red zone. And so for us, when we are coaching, our purpose and goal are to score, and so this gives them a clear understanding of what we want,” Bolton said.
3 on Your Side caught up with a couple of seniors on the team who say they are ready to leave their mark on the new foundation.
“Man, I’m excited. I mean, it’s one of a kind and a nice facility. We will be the first people to play on it, so that means we have to go out with a bang,” said Selwyn Ware, a senior wide receiver.
“It’s an unbelievable experience because here at Canton High we have been playing on grass ever since I could remember coming to the games, but being able to be the first ones on the field is just a great thing, and we are going to dominate on here,” said Jeremy Bates, Mr. Canton High School and senior running back.
Others say they are learning from last season’s mistakes to apply even more pressure in the tiger’s den. “Mostly working on my technique like footwork, measuring my eye on the ball, and basically just staying focused,” said a senior football player.
Coach Bolton is asking the entire city to come out and support the Canton Tigers by packing out the stands for their first game against Provine on September 8.
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https://www.wlbt.com/2023/08/19/cant...tificial-turf/
Fountain Construction wins contract for $18 million renovation project to Planetarium
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Fountain Construction Co. won the bid to renovate the Russell C. Davis Planetarium in downtown Jackson. The bid, which was opened on July 18, will be reviewed by the project architects and submitted to the Jackson City Council for approval, said former Jackson Mayor Kane Ditto, who served from 1989 until 1997 and is involved in the fundraising efforts for the planetarium.
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https://www.northsidesun.com/local-c...&e_sort_order=
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