Preliminary discussions on a potential multi-purpose arena for local agricultural groups are ongoing. A feasibility study in the works includes possible financial assistance from the state and where the facility would be located.
Terry Brown, President Pro Tempore of the Mississippi Senate, said he’s in the “early stages” of working with colleagues on a bill that would provide funding for the project.
“It will be (introduced at) the very last of the session,” Brown said. “It will be when we see if we’ve got bonds or if we can do it with appropriations. Usually you ask for this thing one year and you probably don’t get it until the next year. It’s very early and we’re just looking at the possibilities.”
Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Harry Sanders said facilities that currently house the Lowndes County Extension Office lack sufficient space for meetings and local agriculture-related clubs and associations have to rent other buildings. The county fairgrounds, where local 4-H Clubs and the Cattleman’s Association show animals, “is falling apart and not getting any representation,” Sanders said.
County leaders have spoken with Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins about a possible location. One factor to consider was where the potential facility could be centrally located and have high visibility. One possible location is on a county-owned, 50-acre parcel west of the Paccar plant that Higgins said he was not considering for industrial development.
“We’ve been asked to look at land we had available out by the airport area for suitability and not in conflict with industrial possibilities,” Higgins said. “I went and looked up some of the bigger (multi-purpose agricultural facilities) in the state and superimposed them on a couple of sites to see if they would fit. I don’t know what the county would decide, but I think we’ve found something or multiple somethings that would work if they wanted to do it.”
Sanders said the county is looking at architectural plans from other similar buildings in Forrest and Pontotoc counties that could be used if funding was secured to construct one in Lowndes so the county wouldn’t have to use any matching grant funds it might be required to provide for engineering or design costs.
Brown said funding could be available through a grant from the Mississippi Department of Agriculture but he is exploring all avenues for how to provide state assistance for a new facility.
“We are an agricultural state. This would be something that would be used by the county agents and the 4-H Clubs and different things like that,” Brown said. “We’re looking to try to get something bigger and something that would attract more venues in here. It could be used for a multitude of things.”
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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