NATCHEZ, Miss. – Part of the old Broadway Street train depot and grounds will be hosting group gatherings and be managed by the company that oversees the Natchez Convention Center.
A contract city aldermen approved Tuesday has the New Orleans-based company spending $150,000 of its money to enhance the north side of the vintage, city-owned building and renting the space out to groups for various functions.
The historic landmark built around 1915 has been vacant for a decade as Natchez officials struggled to finish restoring the former Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad passenger depot and landscape its bluff area overlooking the Mississippi River. While nearly $1 million was spent in state and city funds to restore the exterior in 2016, the building remained empty as plans stalled on how the interior is to be used.
The company run by Warren Reuther has been managing the city-owned convention center for more than a decade and owns the nearby Natchez Grand Hotel.
Plans are for the company to manage the depot property for groups to gather “in a park setting outside” with a scenic view of the Mississippi River, said Walter Tipton, who runs the convention center.
“The depot is a great addition to the convention center’s offerings,” Tipton told Mayor Dan Gibson and aldermen as they were approving the depot management contract Tuesday.
The building’s south interior has been outfitted for Natchez’ tourism agency. Its visitors information center opened there two weeks ago.
The Board of Aldermen previously leased the depot to Reuther’s company — which began in 2016 restoring its interior – but the contract was later nullified amid protests about city officials not seeking proposals from others. Movie producers Tate Taylor and John Norris then won a lease in 2019 to convert the building into a restaurant, but that deal was canceled in 2022 because it proved to be financially unfeasible.
The property has been the recipient of about $1 million in government and private funds the past decade as the city sought to get it restored and back into use. Reuther’s company spent about $260,000 for renovations before aldermen canceled the deal, Tipton said. The city reimbursed the company for that.
The latest government allocation is $362,000 in revitalization funds the state Legislature appropriated in May for landscaping the depot grounds and plaza.
Comments