For more than a year now, Lowndes County and the Mississippi State University Extension Service have been working on plans to build a multi-purpose outdoor facility that could be used for horse and livestock shows, 4H competitions and just about any other event suited to a large covered space.
Tuesday provided a significant milestone in those plans. During its regular meeting, the Lowndes Board of Supervisors accepted deeds on property donated by Jimmy Graham and Al Puckett. The site is located just west of the Tombigbee River at Old Highway 82 and Tom Rose Road. Graham and Puckett, who own adjoining properties, will benefit from the infrastructure the project will bring.
To date, it has been described as a horse park, for lack of a better term, and the inevitable comparison is the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville. But that is not a fair comparison. For starters, the new facility is planned on a far smaller scale, and its mission is different, too.
In addition to the 20,000-square-foot covered pavilion, the project calls for a 5,000-square-foot office complex that will serve as the new home for the MSU Extension Service and the local 4H organization, and will provide much-needed meeting space.
With more than enough land to accommodate those structures, the plans also call for a small man-made pond and trails through the portion of the land that will remain forested. County and Extension Service officials say these additions will expand the educational opportunities the Extension Service can provide – everything from pond management to ATV safety to a “field lab” where young people can learn about the world of nature.
The Extension Service will be moving from its current space downtown to a site that will allow it to conduct classes, seminars and workshops right outside its door.
We applaud this effort and recognize its potential.
A child in New York or Los Angeles or Chicago might not be expected to know much of the natural world. For them, nature is a ocean of concrete away, an abstract.
But here in what remains a largely rural area, the idea that our children are unfamiliar with the wonders of nature all around us seems almost tragic.
Young people should know about the world around them and be curious about it. It is no less a part of a well-rounded education than the study of math or language.
Now that the site has been secured, work should begin on the facility before the end of the year.
We can hardly wait.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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