NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson celebrated the one-year anniversary Friday of him taking office by proclaiming a new development for the old Eola hotel has been sparked by the city’s plans for building a downtown parking garage.
He cited the “soon-to-be announced new development” as one of the many happenings in what he calls “The Natchez Renewal” initiated 12 months ago when he became mayor.
“We have not wasted time. We have made the most of it, and we have a lot to show for it,” Gibson said.
As he wrapped up his first annual State of the City speech Friday evening as mayor, Gibson extolled an agreement he said has been clinched for the now-closed Eola – the city’s downtown centerpiece since 1927 – that he’s been working to revive since taking office.
Renovations had been underway by Eola owner Rob Lubin since the hotel closed in 2014, but the project stalled in the past couple of years.
However, plans being made by the mayor and city aldermen for a parking garage next door have apparently rejuvenated the Eola’s restoration plans. “The details will be released very soon, so just hold on tight,” Gibson said.
The adjacent Fry Building has been donated to the city by Walter Davis III. The mayor and Board of Aldermen are planning to get the deteriorated 1950s building torn down and replaced by a parking garage, which will “go hand in hand” with the Eola, Gibson said.
In delivering his State of the City address Friday in front of the Natchez Bandstand overlooking the Mississippi River, Gibson looked back at how his administration has coped with COVID-induced challenges of the past year and outlined how it’s moving forward with “The Natchez Renewal.”
“We have made it, and the best is yet to come,” Gibson said. “Today, we celebrate the best of what we have experienced.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic last year crippled the economy and sickened more than 3,330 local residents – including 87 who’ve died from the coronavirus – Natchez in recent months has rebounded.
“The things we thought impossible are now becoming possible because we are working together,” said Gibson, citing “record-number” statistics for new jobs, businesses, construction and tourism in Natchez that show the city is now thriving. City revenues have bounced back up since last year and even eclipsed sales tax collections of previous years.
However, a new strain of the coronavirus is causing an increase of infections, prompting Gibson on Friday to encourage more people to get COVID vaccinations. Only 32 percent of Adams County’s population has been fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health. The city is waging a campaign to get more local residents their COVID shots.
Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Hudson praised Gibson as a leader whose “energy and enthusiasm are contagious,” but the mayor said “The Natchez Renewal” has been a collaborative effort.
“I’m only one person. It takes a community,” he said. “We have done a lot, but we’ve done it together as a community.”
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