NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson said hopes are for the Eola hotel renovation to begin by March, but developers are encountering higher-than-expected construction costs and are “tweaking their plans” to fit within the $24 million budget they had set.
The Eola has been closed since 2014. Plans to refurbish the 1927 landmark have stalled the past few years, but efforts were revived in August by new developers that include New Orleans restaurateur Dickie Brennan.
City officials in July unveiled plans to demolish the Fry building next door and put a downtown Natchez parking garage in its place to accompany the hotel development.
Once the city’s largest office building – located on the corner of Pearl and Franklin streets — the 1950s Fry building has deteriorated and been partly vacant for several years.
The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved plans for environmental engineers to assess the extent of asbestos and other contaminants at the Fry building and adjoining property. The board plans to tear down the city-owned building for construction of the parking garage for downtowners to use.
The mayor predicted 2022 in Natchez will be “a year of great harvest for us” as other new developments take place.
He envisions breaking ground in May for rebuilding the lower end of Silver Street so it won’t flood when the Mississippi River gets too high. Along with this will be the construction of riverboat docking facilities for Viking and American Cruise Lines. Viking plans to build a docking pier near where the casino boat was once berthed at Natchez Under-the-Hill. ACL will put in a boat ramp to replace the old launch that’s there now. ACL had originally planned to build a dock on the water but opted for a boat ramp, Gibson said.
The mayor said another new Natchez Under-the-Hill commercial development is in the works, but he didn’t elaborate.
Gibson also said he’ll soon unveil his medical economic development marketing plan to make Natchez a regional “healthcare hub.”
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The mayor was forced to vote twice Tuesday to break 3-3 ties on the board – deadlocks that have Gibson casting rare votes. He voted to hire a grant writer to help seek federal funds, and he broke a tie to approve new residential parking rules in neighborhoods with a concentration of bed-and-breakfast inns.
Prompted by heated disputes on the 700 block of North Union Street about too many B&B guests taking residents’ parking space, three aldermen and the mayor agreed to have two street spots reserved for each residence upon request on city blocks with at least four B&Bs.
The mayor and three aldermen voted to contract a temporary worker that Gibson said is needed to assist city staffers apply for a $5 million federal grant. Chrystal Matthews, a Baton Rouge-based specialist in applying for grants, will help the city try to get money from a federal American Rescue Plan program that aims to train people in partnership with local businesses needing workers with specific skills.
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A new local law banning 18-wheeler trucks traveling through downtown Natchez will be strongly imposed, said Gibson, who noted the large vehicles “wreak havoc on our streets.” The new ordinance prohibits tractor-trailer trucks not making Natchez deliveries on downtown thoroughfares, such as Martin Luther King, Canal and Jefferson streets.
Police officers “will strictly enforce our no-trucking zone in downtown Natchez,” the mayor said. Signs warning truckers of this are being posted, he said, and mapping services could be asked not to route truck drivers through Natchez as the quickest way to reach their destinations.
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The board gave retroactive approval for city officials borrowing $400,000 from funds the city gets from leasing land to Magnolia Bluffs Casino. The money was needed to pay municipal employees and other expenses in December while the city awaited receipt of a $1 million bank loan, which will be repaid in a couple of months from property taxes due in the coming weeks. Aldermen also approved giving Natchez Inc. $12,000 to be repaid when the 2022 tax revenues starting flowing in.
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