Depot, Convention Center updates underway

NATCHEZ — A new event facility in Natchez positioned on the Natchez bluff with a scenic view of the Mississippi River will soon be available to book events in, though it isn’t quite finished.

The River Room located inside the historic train depot on the Natchez bluff received a plaque designating its future use as an event center on Friday morning with officials there to celebrate.

It will be operated as an extension of the Natchez Convention Center and the Civic Center run by New Orleans hotelier Warren Reuther, who also owns and operates the Natchez Grand Hotel.

“Before you can hang (a plaque) on a historic building you have to go through archives and history and it didn’t’ take them long to approve what we were going to do,” Reuther said.

The plaque is up before construction is finished because “we want to start marketing the River Room at the depot for future events taking place in the next five to six months,” Reuther said, adding the building would be finished and ready for use three months from now.

The Convention Center is pushing a new slogan “We are where you want to be,” to advertise the convenience of having all that’s needed to host an event — The River Room, the Convention Center, the Civic Center and the Natchez Grand Hotel — all within walking distance from each other.

The Convention Center website www.natchezconventioncenter.org would soon have the River Room listed for booking, he added.

“Those of you who remember it, it is where the Cock of the Walk restaurant used to be,” Mayor Dan Gibson said. “It is going to now anchor the north end of our historic depot while our new Visitor Center anchors the south end.”

Reuther said having an event center stationed on the beautiful Natchez bluff is a great asset to the city.

“One of our greatest assets, The Grand Hotel, overlooks the river and the beds along the river always go first,” he said. “This building is on the river. The river plays an important role in Natchez and its important that we have a meeting room on the river. It’s beautiful and we want to make (this venue) beautiful.”

Gibson added that Mississippi Department of Archives and History funding will allow the city to make further improvements to the plaza around the depot and add an outdoor event space to the rear side closest to the river.

“Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant that the Downtown Natchez Alliance received this year will be used for a park scape on the grounds surrounding the depot to create another place for both visitors and locals,” said DNA director Kevin Miers.

Ward One Alderwoman Valencia Hall, who was once an Archives and History board member before elected as an alderwoman, said “It’s amazing to see the transformation and the dedication from all the people who are associated with this (project) and the vision that everyone has to improve this depot. I did not want it to continue to be idle. We needed it to be functional. I approached the mayor and said ‘This is a city building. Let’s make it happen.’ I’m glad to finally see it happening.”

The Convention Center will also soon be undergoing major renovations to its first floor during the month of August, when event bookings are light. The Civic Center is also nearly finished undergoing renovation and is available to book events in now.

The renovations are part of the City of Natchez’s $5.35 million bond issue for improvements to those facilities as well as the City Auditorium, which will use $2 million of the funds for improvements.

Starting next week, the lower level of the Convention Center will be receiving new stained-glass windows in the exhibit hall, new audio-visual equipment and new lighting in the event rooms and modern touchless restrooms.

“The renovations throughout the entire month of August will be in the lower level of the Convention Center, so everything is going to be upstairs and at the Civic Center,” said event coordinator Ryan Richardson. “After that, phase two will start and they will start working on the top floors.”

The post Depot, Convention Center updates underway appeared first on Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper .