NATCHEZ, Miss. – Plans for converting the old Broadway Street train depot into a restaurant have been aborted because it’s financially unfeasible, said Mayor Dan Gibson.
The Natchez Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to dissolve the lease it had with movie producers Tate Taylor and John Norris, who envisioned restoring the city-owned building and making it the centerpiece of the entertainment district along the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.
Gibson said the century-old railroad depot has too many structural constraints to make enough money as an eatery. However, Taylor and Norris do plan to build a larger restaurant on the parking lot adjacent to the former train station, according to the mayor.
A state-designated Mississippi Landmark, the depot was built around 1915. Its exterior was renovated in 2016 by the city, but the building has remained an empty shell as plans for getting a developer to complete the interior’s restoration have stalled.
The board in December 2019 selected Norris and Taylor to pursue their plans for the depot. They continued to express confidence since then with grand designs put forth that the building and landscaped grounds would be finished, but they said the COVID pandemic, inflated costs and supply snags hampered their efforts. The Board of Aldermen in April imposed a deadline for the partners to have the building open for business by October, but they’ve “run into some frustrations,” Gibson said.
With the old railroad depot now deemed unsuitable for a restaurant, the mayor and aldermen are seeking state funds to transform it into restrooms and a visitors information center. They’re applying for a grant from the state Department of Archives and History to help pay for this.
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Another downtown Natchez development that’s been in limbo is the Eola hotel’s planned renovation. However, the mayor said its developers have set a $33 million budget and are about to firm up financing for the restoration project to start in 2023.
As construction costs have exceeded initial projections to delay restoring the hotel, the city is canceling plans for building an adjacent parking garage where the Fry building is now. That city-owned structure is still to be torn down but replaced by a parking lot instead, Gibson said.
He said the Eola is partnering with the American Cruise Lines to provide accommodations for passengers boarding and deboarding its riverboats docking in Natchez.
City officials and hotel developers in summer 2021 announced with much fanfare that the deteriorating 1927 downtown landmark will be refurbished to reopen as a hotel and restaurant. The Eola has been closed since 2014.
For the Fry demolition project, the city will seek federal funds from a program aimed at assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites so they can be redeveloped. The Fry building is laden with asbestos.
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The mayor and city aldermen applauded the Natchez-Adams School District for earning a ‘B’ being awarded by the state for it students’ academic performances.
This comes after several past years of NASD schools getting a ‘D’ or ‘F.’
The state Department of Education on Tuesday announced the grades given to Mississippi school districts to be confirmed by the Commission on School Accreditation on Thursday. State assessment tests given to students make up a large part of the grades. They rely heavily on the progress students make in English and math tests from one year to the next.
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