Jackson Free Press

The Junior League of Jackson wants to build a children's museum on 4.3 acres of state parkland, but opponents say the construction will irrevocably damage the park.

"This is a project for the citizens of the state. It's something the Junior League is raising private funds for, something children desperately need," said Junior League Executive Director John Jordan. "There are 300 (children's museums) in the country. Every major capital in every state has one. This is not a business. This is a cultural entity for the kids."

The Junior League wants to build a $23.5 million, two-story facility in the 60-year-old Lefleur's Bluff State Park. The facility, financed largely through private funding in addition to some state and federal money, will offer exploratory exhibits for kids pertaining to science, literacy, health and nutrition, and the arts. Admission to the museum could run around $10.

The Junior League held a forum at the Lefleur's Bluff Park clubhouse, with about 150 metro Jackson residents attending. While a majority of audience members approved the construction of the museum, some decried development inside a valuable state park.

Jackson resident Charles Brenner was angry that developers proposed cutting more green space for development.

"When I want to take a walk in the woods, I go for a walk at the university hospital. They have a nice wooded area there, but every year, they get more money to build more buildings on that land over there. Every recreation space in Jackson seems to shrink a little every year. I don't make enough money to join River Hills Golf Club, or the tennis clubs or the country clubs," Brenner told the crowd.

Jackson resident Josh Wiener said he was alarmed at the impact the development would have on the park's golf course.

"If a building of the proposed type as the museum is built in its proposed location … virtually in the middle of the course, on what is now the sixth hole of this nine-hole golf course, it will have a substantial negative impact on the scenic beauty of the golf course. It will threaten the longtime viability of the rest of the golf course," Wiener said.

Wiener warned that the development was "subject to legal challenge."

In an effort to curb city revenue shortfalls, former Mayor Dale Danks attempted to sell the same park to developer Army Brown in 1988, for businesses and hotel development. That deal fell through because of strict federal regulations, however.

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior would have to approve any development of park property. The state would also have to offer comparable property to mitigate the appraised value of the 4.3 acres lost to development.

Appraisers evaluate the land based on its size and quality, as well as the population it serves. Wiener said the state would have a difficult time finding land of equal value serving as high a population as Jackson. Most prospective natural areas comparable in quality to Lefleur's Bluff Park are far away from a major urban area.

Ramie Ford, director of state parks of the Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, said his department is already considering some land for mitigation, and does not consider it a stumbling block because the state can offer the substitute land after the Department of Interior gives the go-ahead.

"We're not going to commit a whole bunch of time to that because we know it's going to happen. We've got some areas to consider, and I think we have about a year after the conversion is approved to make that decision," Ford said, adding that the museum issue differs from the Brown development because of the nature of the construction.

"If Danks was doing it for private development, that would be a big difference, but the Children's Museum is non-profit," Ford said.

Jordan said he had no reservations about doing construction inside a state park.

"It seemed to be the logical place to build, from our standpoint," Jordan said. "I've always believed that kids in an educational setting are best served at a natural site. When you build a school, you build on a minimum of 40 acres, so there's plenty of play area and places for kids to feel comfortable and safe. We felt the green space in a park … was exactly what we think goes well with children and play."

Downtown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen said he approached the Junior League to locate the museum downtown, saying the arts museum, planetarium, civil rights museum and other incoming development would complement the children's museum.

"Two weeks ago, we showed (Junior League representatives) the available sites. We'd be furnishing this property to them free of charge. … There would be no money involved. We'd just get it transferred to them. Truth is, they were very impressed with all the development going on downtown, but the problem with them is they've got a two-year track record with the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks," Allen said.

Jordan said the sites now available downtown were not available when Junior League members decided on a location in 2005.

Previous Comments

ID

68216

Comment

move it downtown

Author

NewJackson

Date

2008-01-01T17:20:42-06:00

ID

68217

Comment

What a great use for Metrocenter...

Author

Rico

Date

2008-01-01T17:46:18-06:00

ID

68218

Comment

Rico so south Jackson residents should just give up on the metrocenter and head to Dogwood and Northpark. The children's museum will not fill up the whole metro and when i went to Chicago there children's museum was downtown. Whats wrong with Mississippi y'all have this mentality that everything should be spread out. Thats why we don't have anything downtown. build it downtown to add to the traffic and to make Downtown a focal point. thats whats lacking downtown (Preferred treatment).

Author

NewJackson

Date

2008-01-01T18:37:08-06:00

ID

68219

Comment

I don't think anyone should "give up" on Metrocenter. But instead of having a huge empty space where an anchor store used to be, why not put in a *world class* children's museum? With all the money that they would save by not having to do new construction, they might be able to afford something really nice. It would bring tons of traffic to the mall, and could very well breath some new life into the existing tenants. But for whatever it is worth, I wouldn't have any objection to downtown either. What I *would* object to is giving up more of the green space at Lefleurs Bluff for this project. With all the different places in Jackson where this thing could be built, why do they have to carve into one of Jackson's best assets?

Author

Rico

Date

2008-01-01T19:03:23-06:00

ID

68220

Comment

I can understand why the museum would want to be built at Lefluer's Bluff, given that the Agriculture & Forestry Museum and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame is nearby. But I am opposed to giving up green space for this project. I think downtown could be a good spot. There are some abandoned buildings that could be torn down to make way for a museum.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-01-01T19:48:10-06:00

ID

68221

Comment

agree rico and golden eagle, iam just saying in order to make downtown attractive you got to have attractions all centered in one place, its already tough enough fighting the suburbs for new development. I think downtown this year in 08 should go after such projects like the childrens museum, like the suburbs go after key projects to make their places a key attraction

Author

NewJackson

Date

2008-01-01T21:18:21-06:00

ID

68222

Comment

Since the museum is a non-profit, would they have to pay taxes if it were built downtown? That's another reason I want to see it somewhere other than Lefluer's Bluff. LB is state property and the city won't see a dime in taxes from it.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-01-01T21:30:50-06:00

ID

68223

Comment

Well, if Jackson doesn't go after it aggressively, you can bet that the suburbs will- that is just the way that it is done. I would *love* to see it downtown or at the Metrocenter, or out by Hawkins Field near the zoo, or just about anywhere- except for places that are supposed to be set aside from development- like parks... As far as being a non-profit, if they were leasing the space from a private developer (like the owners of the Metrocenter property for example), wouldn't property taxes still have to be paid? That would be another advantage for Jackson I think...

Author

Rico

Date

2008-01-01T21:51:09-06:00

ID

68224

Comment

Its time for DT jackson to grow, we need all the new development thats popping up downtown.

Author

NewJackson

Date

2008-01-01T21:51:43-06:00

ID

68225

Comment

I like the idea of building it downtown. Keep the bluff area relatively pristine. Any added attractions downtown could only add to the momentum downtown has going for it.

Author

tombarnes

Date

2008-01-01T22:45:29-06:00

ID

68226

Comment

True tom

Author

NewJackson

Date

2008-01-01T22:47:27-06:00

ID

68227

Comment

http://wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7564064 WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Construction Changing Downtown Skyline

Author

NewJackson

Date

2008-01-02T14:56:30-06:00