Downtown Revitalization

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Hattiesburg celebrates 125 years

DOWNTOWN REVITALIZ ATION

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TEXT BY VALERIE WELLS PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIAN BENSON Despite a national recession, downtown Hattiesburg is thriving with new businesses. “Almost every month, we’ve had a major building sell,” said Betsy Rowell, executive director of the Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association. For example, the large Komp building on East Pine Street sold recently. The former headquarters of Komp Equipment Co. - a historic, large landmark - now will house more downtown living space. Developers are renovating the space into more loft apartments, a popular

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trend in downtown living. And that’s not all. The Curry building on East Front Street will house five loft apartments upstairs and three retail stores at the street level. One of the new shops will sell frames, a welcome addition to an arts district. New developments and plans keep cropping up. The Family Y will open a gym on Mobile Street next year. About a block away, a new restaurant will open and will be yet another music venue for regional bands. For more than 20 years, key

people worked quietly behind the scenes to put all this rebirth in motion. Slowly, steadily, a core group of dedicated volunteers with a common vision put all the pieces in place to create the current renaissance, which includes the renovation of the train depot and the charming Walnut Street restaurants and storefronts. Downtown had been virtually deserted in the 1970s when Cloverleaf Mall opened and retailers moved west, but now it’s starting to boom again, this time with restaurants, a bookstore, art

galleries and nightclubs. Part of the success now was all about timing, Rowell said. “Kids growing up in the suburbs are tired of that,” she said, referring to the young downtown entrepreneurs. Instead of strip malls and giant marts, this younger generations prefers niche shops, intimate lunch dates and oneof-a-kind experiences. And in turn, a thriving downtown needs the energy of “new blood,” Rowell said. Along with the music and the art and the coffee shops, there’s a commitment to recognize what Mayor Johnny DuPree calls Hattiesburg’s “other downtown” - the MobileBouie Street area. The historically black business district and neighborhood is now embraced by the historically white downtown association. The African-American Military History Museum housed in the historic USO Club building on East Sixth Street attracts many visitors. Also set to open soon is a community center at the renovated Eureka School building. From the train depot to the Mississippi 42 Bypass, Mobile Street is the unifying element that connects the two old downtowns. The Mobile Street Renaissance Festival, founded in part by City Council member Deborah Denard Delgado, celebrates the one new downtown. This year, the festival is Oct. 2-4. The downtown is finding other common ground. Two separate studies - one for a business strategy and one for public arts development - concluded the same thing: Gordon‘s Creek is an asset. Both studies suggest making the creek an attractive, linear sculpture park will improve quality of life, attract visitors and keep the new blood pumping. Architect Larry Albert, who oversaw the restoration of the Saenger Theatre and Hattiesburg Train Depot, is heading up the rebuilding of the old Hattiesburg High School on Main Street, which was gutted by an arsonist’s fire in 2007, and will eventually be an art center for the University of Southern Mississippi. Albert also designed the new Hattiesburg public library on Hardy Street, which won a Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts for its design in 1997. Its red tile roof, huge arched windows and twin curving staircases inside reflect the design of the original library on Main Street, which is now the Hattiesburg Cultural Center. “I spent a lot of time in the old building and had a love for it,” Albert said. Rowell sees it all coming together. “It’s amazing when you stop and look at what’s happening in Hattiesburg,” she said.

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