NATCHEZ, Miss. — The Rotary Club water fountain at the Natchez bluff park is being revived after being out of commission beset by leaks for a lengthy period. Natchez aldermen on Tuesday approved spending nearly $4,300 to make the ornamental fountain operational again with the installment of a new precast pooled liner.
The Natchez Rotary Club in 1969 built the small pool with its center water spout to commemorate the club’s 50th anniversary. The fountain is among the venerable fixtures at the Broadway Street bluff area overlooking the Mississippi River.
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Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and aldermen discussed the rum distillery being reopened by Doug Charboneau by Kings Tavern. The Natchez Planning Commission last week agreed to allow it being where it was on the corner of Jefferson and Rankin streets.
Charboneau closed the distillery in 2020 but recently decided to reopen it while his wife Regina operates the adjacent eatery in the historic 1700s Kings Tavern building, which was a restaurant for many years until it went out of business along with the distillery.
“Everyone is excited that Kings Tavern is coming back,” Gibson said Tuesday as he and aldermen met with Charboneau to review the rum distillery plans, which also include operating a tasting room on the second floor of Kings Tavern.
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The southbound lane of Martin Luther King Street’s 200 block will be closed next Tuesday while a building is being demolished. The structure at 731 Franklin Street is unstable and must come down. Demolition is expected to take a couple of days.
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Natchez aldermen closed the public out of discussions with the mayor Tuesday about giving pay raises to a select number of city government employees. They said the public should not be allowed to hear details about job performances as decisions are being made on whether to raise salaries for certain employees. State law does allow government boards to discuss such issues behind closed doors even though it deals with taxpayers’ money.
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