Jackson Free Press

After nearly a year of dormancy, Watkins Development's plans for the Fondren strip on North State Street are back in action. Jason Watkins, a partner in Watkins Development, is negotiating a contract to purchase the Pix/Capri Theatre from owner Logan Young.

The plan, Watkins said, is to renovate the Mississippi historic site, located at the north end of the strip, and reopen it as a movie theater. But what those renovations entail will not totally be up to the developer. The Pix/Capri, built in 1939, achieved historic-landmark status in 2004, which means the Mississippi Department of Archives and History will have to approve any renovations to the building.

As far back as 2008, Watkins Development planned to purchase and demolish the entire strip of stores adjacent to the Pix/Capri to make way for a mixed-used development. But the grass-roots organization Save Our Strip started a petition to stop the plan and convinced company officials to rethink the development in early 2011.

"We hope that the focus on the Capri is a sign that Watkins Development wants to preserve the historic fabric of Fondren," said Arin Clark Adkins, spokeswoman for Save Our Strip. "Restoring and preserving the Capri would lend nicely with restoring and preserving the strip."

The purchase of the Pix/Capri would give Watkins, along with his father, David, ownership of the entire portion of the strip from the Butterfly Yoga building, located at 3025 N. State St. just north of the theater, to The Antique Market at 3009 N. State Street.

Real estate broker Sam Peters, who represents both Watkins and Young, said the deal is not final, though.

"I'm assuming that it's going to close, but I can't guarantee you that the sale will happen at all," Peters told the JFP. "Not every single thing that goes under contract sells."

The purchase would leave the buildings that house Wells' Quality Cleaners, SE Lock and Key, and Jackson Shoe Repair as the only properties on the strip not owned by Watkins Development.

Jason Watkins said the plan is no longer to demolish any part of the strip.

"We're working with people in the community to look at some alternate designs," Watkins told the JFP. "That strip area? We've just decided that we want to hold off on any kind of redevelopment there until I've focused more on the Pix area for redevelopment. I think that the Pix area will serve as a good anchor for the rest of the development that will take place in the strip area."

After focusing on the Pix/Capri, Watkins said the plan is to begin construction of the large mixed-used development, Whitney Place, on the unoccupied land behind the strip on North State Street.

Owners Want to Stay
Carol Moore owns Wells' Quality Cleaners, which has been in her family for more than 80 years. Her building, owned by John Cooper, borders the Watkins-owned portion of the strip. She said she has heard Watkins has more plans for the strip.

"We're phase four from what I hear," Moore said. "He's going to do the Capri, start building back behind, do all that work, and then work up to (us). We're the last phase of his plan so, hopefully, that'll never come to pass. I don't want to be put out of business."

In 2010, David Watkins said the buildings he owns on the strip have significant structural and electrical damage and that they have "no economic value," only sentimental.

Moore said that is not the case for the building she rents from Cooper.

"We're just hoping and praying that (our landlord) hasn't sold (the building) and that somehow David can incorporate leaving these buildings that are sound," Moore said. "The ones (Watkins) purchased (to the north) are in dire need of repairs. Ours are not. Our buildings are sound.

"Build whatever you want, David. Build it, I'm all for you. Just leave us little people alone."

Moore, a Fondren resident, said she doesn't want to see a shopping center like Renaissance, in Ridgeland, built in Jackson.

"You know, you can't stop progress. And if David wants to do it, he's got the money to do it," she said.

"You have to let him do it. I just pray to God he doesn't get these buildings."

The building that houses Butterfly Yoga is located just north of the main strip. Jason Watkins said there are no current plans to demolish the building. Butterfly Yoga founder Scotta Brady could not be reached for comment at press time.

Back to the Movies
If the Pix/Capri is reopened, it will be a long-overdue return to movies on the big screen in the capital city. Jackson has not had a movie theater in more than a decade, since Meadowbrook Cinema Six and Metrocenter Four closed.

Jason Watkins said he hopes to start renovations before the end of 2012. Meanwhile, Flowood, Ridgeland, Madison, Pearl and Clinton all have operating cinemas. Pearl's Tinseltown and Madison's Malco Grandview were built after Meadowbrook Six and Metrocenter Four closed.

David Waugh, president of the Fondren Association of Businesses, said the Pix/Capri opening would be a positive thing for Jackson, but he would like to see the old theater be more than just a cinema.

"There's not a theater in this area, and there's not a performance space," Jason Watkins said by phone Monday. "A bunch of us have been hoping to have a place for live performances as well as movie performances."

The theater has hosted only a few live performances in recent years, including the annual Holiday Showcase by Jackson-based record label Esperanza Plantation.

Duling Hall, located on nearby Duling Avenue in Fondren, serves as the neighborhood's regular concert hall.

Watkins said he hopes to be able to provide more than the theater's original one-screen layout.

"Our preference is to have more than one screen. We are working on our configuration of that now," Watkins said.

Because of ongoing negotiations with Young and the need for the Department of Archives and History to approve any renovations, Watkins said he could not divulge any more information on his plans for the theater.

The theater was built in 1939 as the Pix, a 500-seat movie theater that also hosted the occasional live performance. It first closed in 1957, but reopened as the Capri in 1962.

After changing hands a few more times, the Pix/Capri closed as a movie theater for the last time in 1985. Since then, producers have sporadically used the theater for independent film showings and live performances.