The northwest corner of Lampkin and Jackson streets is a hodgepodge of building foundations, concrete slabs and crumbling asphalt, interspersed with patches of green and brown grass.
By the first of May, the property could be transformed into the new home of the Starkville Community Market, with green space, sculptures and a pavilion. A garden also could be in the works, Starkville artist Dylan Karges said Friday as he walked along the property just south of Boardtown Trading Post.
Karges, a member of the Starkville Area Arts Council, plans to sculpt 80 to 100 figurines, ranging from 4 feet to 5 feet in height, which he will display at the corner of Jackson and Lampkin streets. The project is part of a renewed effort by the city, its beautification committee and more than a half dozen local organizations to improve the appearance of downtown Starkville and display art in public places.
“We”re trying to re-establish that corner as a real part of the city, but we”re also framing that as an arts location and a destination downtown for smaller events,” Karges said.
The lot is owned by East Mississippi Lumber Company, which relocated from the current Boardtown Trading Post building to Russell Street in 1992. The buildings formerly located on the lot – which, dating back to the early 1900s, served as everything from a grocery store to a furniture store to a medical office, among other things – were razed in 1994, East Mississippi Lumber Company President Andy Gaston said.
Since then, the lot has been vacant. The goal is to rehabilitate the lot by May 1st.
Some concrete work will be done on the property to strengthen the aging slabs and building foundations, Karges said. Additionally, Gulf States Manufacturing is donating a pavilion or small structure, which is still in the design phase, to be located on the property, Ward 5 Alderman and Starkville Community Market co-founder Jeremiah Dumas said.
Work crews also will landscape and level the property, Karges said.
The city”s beautification committee is working with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Business Association, Greater Starkville Development Partnership, Mississippi Master Gardeners, Mississippi State University Community Action Team, Starkville Area Arts Council, Starkville Community Theater, and Town and Country Garden Club on the project. Plans also are in the works to paint murals on several walls downtown, including the breezeway on Main Street and the side of attorney Julie Brown”s office along South Lafayette Street, among other places, Karges said.
The revitalization plan also includes the introduction of historical markers for significant buildings and districts within the city, downtown recycling containers, signs to direct visitors and citizens to primary destinations, and a central information kiosk for further directions to business and governmental locations downtown.
The city has agreed to contribute up to $15,000 in matching funds for the initiative, Dumas said. The beautification committee, through personal donations, was able to raise between $1,100 and $1,200, Karges said. The SAAC provided $1,000, the CVB contributed $7,000, the Downtown Business Association gave $5,000 and Town and Country Garden Club committed to sponsoring landscape projects, Karges said. Mississippi State is donating resources toward the lot”s design and members of the Community Action Team will assist in the project, he said.
Dumas said the Community Market was looking to relocate from South Lafayette Street this year because, to operate, the roadway had to be closed, which hampered traffic to businesses along the block. He and co-organizer Tammy Tyndall Carlisle are excited about the impending move to Jackson and Lampkin streets, although Dumas is still unsure when the market will open for the season.
“We were looking for a different area to move to and we wanted to keep (the market) downtown so it would still have that nice, community feel to it,” Dumas said. “That lot really needs to be fixed up. It”s kind of an eyesore, so if we can get in there and make the lot more beautiful, it will help us out at the market and improve the appearance of downtown.”
Dumas was pleased to see the arts initiative and rehabilitation project moving forward, even though the market only will occupy the spot at Jackson and Lampkin until Gaston and East Mississippi Lumber Company come across a new development project to build there.
“There are some good things happening here, as far as the broader picture is concerned,” Dumas said.
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