When Pilgrimage 2010 wraps up in April, Columbus” welcome center will have to find a temporary home for a few months.
At Monday”s meeting of the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director/CEO James Tsismanakis announced that the CVB has received a $108,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The grant will be used to help with restoring the Tennessee Williams home at 300 Main Street, which not only houses the city”s welcome center but was also the birthplace of the famed playwright.
“This money will be used for the restoration and stabilization of the home. We originally asked for $375,000, but we are extremely pleased to get this amount,” Tsismanakis said.
Among the work scheduled includes re-roofing, floor work, restoring chimneys, replastering walls and dry wall work.
Tsismanakis said along with the MDAH grant, the CVB will provide $27,000 in matching funds.
According to the stipulations in the grant, a local entity must provide at least 20 percent of matching funds.
The board unanimously approved Tsismanakis to start the process of obtaining bids and making contingency plans to relocate the center during the restoration/restabilization work.
In other business, the board:
- Elected new officers for 2009-10 at Monday”s meeting. For the third consecutive year, Dewitt Hicks was selected as the CVB”s president and board chairman.
Whirllie Byrd, who previously served as the board”s secretary-treasurer, was chosen as vice president, and Glenn Lautzenhiser was chosen as the new secretary-treasurer.
- Unanimously approved a request by Columbus Mayor Robert Smith for the CVB to contribute $2,500 for the 2010 citywide Unity Picnic, which is scheduled for April 17. They contributed the same amount last year.
- Heard the presentation of Tsismanakis” regular CEO report. Michael Feldman, host of the Public Radio International Show “Whad”Ya Know?” is planning to return to Columbus either in March or April in 2013, Tsismanakis reported.
Feldman hosted a live broadcast of his show Dec. 12 at Rent Auditorium on the Mississippi University for Women campus.
“He really enjoyed his visit to Columbus and indicated he would like to come back here again. He said he loves coming to Mississippi,” Tsismanakis said.
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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