NATCHEZ, Miss. – The much-delayed remaking of the old Natchez train station into a culinary and entertainment venue is expected to be completed by the end of the year with developers planning to spend more than $1 million.
“This has been long in the making,” said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson. “It’s time to get this baby born and start work…. This is going to happen soon.”
The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday finally approved the lease that allows developers Tate Taylor and John Norris to start their restoration of the century-old Broadway Street railroad depot.
Norris said construction should start immediately so the restaurant can open this coming autumn.
He and Taylor are filmmakers who also operate the nearby Crooked Letter movie studio, Smoot’s bar and The Little Easy eatery – all integral parts of an entertainment district city leaders have been trying for years to develop in the Natchez bluff area.
Taylor said he envisions the area becoming “a destination weekend spot” and “mini central park” for visitors and local residents to enjoy food, libations, concerts and other recreational activities overlooking the Mississippi River.
“It’s going to be the people’s spot to go,” he told the mayor and Board of Aldermen as they were setting Tuesday to approve leasing the city-owned depot building to the partners. Taylor and Norris are planning to spend more than $1 million to enhance the old train station and surrounding grounds.
The board in December 2019 selected them to pursue their plans for the depot. Lease negotiations have been underway since then to finalize the agreement. During that time, plans for what the depot will become have been enhanced, Taylor said.
“This project is getting bigger and bigger, and we’re doing it right,” Taylor said.
The terms of the lease – which Natchez city attorney Bryan Callaway noted brings “good news and a good business to our community” – has the depot being leased officially to Church Hill Music Group, the corporation that has Taylor and Norris partnered to redevelop the property. The lease calls for the rent being $1,700 a month, but that amount is deducted by credits given based on the improvements the lessees make to the building, Callaway said.The lease is for five years with the option to renew. Church Hill Music will pay for maintaining the building and grounds.
In addition to converting the old depot’s interior into a “farm-to-table” restaurant, plans include the adjacent bluff-side grounds having an amphitheater for musical performances and a patio for outdoor dining. Public restrooms will also be built outside the depot.
A state-designated Mississippi landmark, the passenger-train station was built around 1912 by the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad and later owned by Illinois Central Railroad. Passenger-rail service for Natchez ended in the 1940s after World War II. The building became a restaurant — The Sidetrack — in the 1970s.
The building has been empty since 2013, when The Cock of the Walk restaurant and The Old South Trading Post souvenir shop were evicted by the city so the building could be refurbished.
Its exterior was renovated in 2016 by the city, but the building has remained an empty shell as the Board of Aldermen held up plans for completing the interior’s restoration as city officials sought developers.
With it being an historic landmark, its redevelopment is being done under the watchful eye of the state Department of Archives and History and the Natchez Preservation Commission, which both have to approve the architecture and construction plans before they’re implemented. The Historic Natchez Foundation is also providing input.
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