It won”t be hot tin, but the Columbus Welcome Center and Tennessee Williams home could be on its way toward receiving a new roof.
The Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau Board approved plans Monday to apply for $337,000 in grant money from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for major upgrades to the famous playwright”s historical home.
The money, if granted, will be used to remove all the chimneys from the home, replace the entire roof, replace some beams in the floor, renovate the southeast room so it can be reopened to the public, replaster the walls and put a fresh coat of paint on the inside and the outside of the house, said James Tsismanakis, director of the Columbus CVB.
It sounds radical, but Tsismanakis said the house will look virtually the same after the work is completed. The walls where the floor-to-ceiling chimneys run will be built to look as though the chimneys are still in place. The cast-iron fireplace facades will be returned, and false chimney stacks will be placed on the new roof.
“Once those issues are done we”ll go back and replaster and fix the walls and repaint the inside and outside,” said Tsismanakis.
The project could be broken into stages, but Tsismanakis said it would save money in the long run to do everything at once.
“That”s why we”re going after $340,000,” he said.
The board has other avenues of applying for funding, but felt the Department of Archives and History was the best bet, Tsismanakis noted.
“We submitted the structural engineering report as soon as we received it to Hank Holmes with the Archives and History Department. And we also submitted it to Mingo Tingle with the Historic Grant Program,” said Tsismanakis, who noted all parties have been kept in the loop from the beginning to ensure plans run smoothly.
“They know where we are. We brought them in from the very beginning. They know what the building needs to be stabilized,” he said.
The MDAH will decide which grant requests it will fulfill in late December. If funds are granted to the CCVB, Tsismanakis said bids will be accepted as soon as possible; work could begin early next year.
New facility
In other matters, drawings and engineering pieces are being finalized for the CVB”s new home on Third Street South.
Developer Mark Castleberry said his contract with the CVB requires construction to begin by Nov. 5.
The new building — being developed directly behind the Welcome Center — will house the CVB as well as professional space and six high-end condominiums.
Caldwell Banker is marketing the condos, and Castleberry would like to have several sold before breaking ground.
“I”d like to have three (sold), but I”ll live with two. If I can get two sold I”ll feel a lot better about starting,” said Castleberry, as he updated the CVB board on the project at their Monday meeting. “We really haven”t gone that much to market with it to nail down pricing. We”ve been a little slower to get some info together than we hoped.”
He estimates the condos will cost between $180,000-$250,000 and will come furnished with 10-foot ceilings and granite countertops.
In its final order of business Monday, the CCVB board voted to contribute $10,000 to Mississippi University for Women to help promote its name change and recruiting.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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