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Paul:

We are heading into that time of year when getting out and moving around is a bit more comfortable. As a matter of fact, it was about three years ago this time, I took my first stroll on the Museum Trail, a pedestrian and cycling trail that begins at the Two Mississippi Museums downtown and currently ends in front of the Children's and Science Museums.

Hey, it's Paul Wolf with a front row seat to conversations on culture from Jackson, Mississippi. We call our podcast Soul Sessions. It's the people, places and events that make the City With Soul shine.

Today on our show, Dr. Clay Hays, President of Jackson Heart Clinic and Vice Chair of the Jackson Heart Foundation was one of the people instrumental in bringing about the Museum Trail and pushing for its expansion, like this month's Waterworks Connector in the Waterworks Curve.

Dr. Hays:

Yeah, that's exactly right. We're super excited. We've been working on this project for over 10 years and it's our vision. And when I say our, David Pharr, Ray Nielsen and really the Chamber of Commerce and the Jackson Heart Foundation really wanted to see this project through fruition, and it's here.

We've had so many pieces of it with the Museum Trail behind the Bellhaven, Bellhaven Heights area, certainly working with the Science Museum and the Children's Museum and that piece of the trail in front of the Museum Boulevard. And now most recently the connection piece around and under the Waterworks Curve, so it's been really exciting.

Paul:

Yeah, you had to work around some logistics there with the water treatment plant there in the waterworks, literally Waterworks Curve on the interstate. And finally, all of that got worked out and by the time this airs, we'll be really close to this thing opening. Yeah?

Dr. Hays:

That's exactly right. It's going to be opening at the end of the month. We're hoping to have the ribbon cutting that's scheduled for October the 25th, and it did take a lot of effort and people are very gracious in helping us. MDot obviously working with us. Jackson Water with the water treatment plant. Energy, oh my goodness, they had to move a couple of power poles, Alliant Construction, doing great work with all the asphalt and really working through that. The City of Jackson, just a lot of great work together. It's been a team effort for sure.

Paul:

And I think for anybody who really doesn't understand what this piece means, when you got to Laurel Street in Bellhaven, right there under the interstate, you had to get off of the trail, go through a neighborhood, go down Riverside Drive, and then connect with the piece in front of the museums. This is a really meaningful development, another phase for the evolution of the trail.

Dr. Hays:

And the neighbors in Bellhaven were fantastic. They were very kind to allow us to borrow their street while we had this piece of the puzzle under construction, but now they can enjoy it. There are a lot of neighbors and people from out of Jackson, that come and use the trail. Parking was an issue. Now that we've figured out a way to do that, partnering with the Children's Museum and Science Museum, there'll be more parking and go see those museums. I mean, that's the idea. We want everybody to enjoy this area.

Paul:

It is the Museum Trail. And on the one end you have the Two Mississippi museums, the other end you have the Children's and Sciences you mentioned, but there really are plans for this thing to go way beyond. In the future, if you had to put on your blue sky thinking cap here, where does this trail go?

Dr. Hays:

Well, that's a great question. It is a part of museums and we still want to try to get over to the Sports Hall of Fame Museum and the Ag Museum on the north side of the project, working with our US delegation, congressional delegation to build a pedestrian bridge across Lakeland Drive that's in the works working with MDOT. And then as you go south, you'll go by the Farmer's Market, by the History Museum, the Civil Rights Museum, but we want to keep going.

We have the Old Capitol Museum going down to Court Street. We take a right, then we start getting toward the Art Museum and then eventually all the way out to Jackson State to the Margaret Walker museum. So there are a lot of museums on the Museum Trail that we hadn't quite accessed yet, but we will. That's our plan.

Paul:

I was just thinking today we talk about the evolution of the trail system here in Jackson. I live right off of Meadowbrook Road, really close to kind of that business corridor there that stayed in Meadowbrook. And this morning on a walk, I said, I'm going to time and I want to see how long it takes me to walk from my house to Walgreens. And it was a nine-minute walk. I mean, trails provide us just another way to connect the city and there certainly are some health and economic benefits, too.

Dr. Hays:

No question about it. And that's one of the things that our mission is from the Jackson Heart Foundation is the health and wellness of the community and education. And the city of Jackson has been great. The Public Works Department, as you mentioned, Meadowbrook Road. We have sort of done a road dive and created a bike walk lane that's just been completed. Did the same thing on Old Canton Road toward Fondren between Meadowbrook and Fondren on Old Canton Road.

Then also using the sidewalks. If you go down State Street, you'll notice that there's this sidewalk that's been widened and it's very pedestrian bike friendly, and we want to do that all over town, not just in North Jackson. It's our vision to do that all over town. A lot of the other cities in America have that kind of idea and have benefited from economic. I mean, you think about the Beltine in Atlanta, it's been a 2 billion - with a "B" - economic impact with the Beltline. There's a lot of opportunity for our city.

Paul:

Dr. Hays, this is important to the city. It's important to our residents, but this really has been a passion project for you for many, many years. I guess my question then is why? Why is this so important to you?

Dr. Hays:

Well, it's my hometown. I mean, Jackson, I grew up here. I love this area. My family's here. And the other thing is people want stuff to do. And this is a way that people can get together. With COVID, so many things, people were looking to do stuff outdoors, and it also brings the community together. This is our trail. This is not my trail, it's our trail. It's the Jackson Trail.

This is a way also to bring younger folks to Jackson. This is a big college town when you really think about it. All the different schools that we have in town, whether it's the University Medical Center, nursing school, dental school, physical therapy, Millsaps, Bellhaven, Jackson State, I mean all these communities can use this trail and it's just a great, great thing for our city.

Paul:

And a great tourism amenity, too. There's so many people that when they look for places to go, they don't want to ditch their exercise routine while they're on vacation. This is a huge amenity for the city.

Dr. Hays:

And you think about the hotels where people stay if they come in for a convention. The Westin, all right, people want to get out and walk around. Well, if the Museum Trail comes right by, this gives them an opportunity to do that and go for a walk or run. We've done the Eastover Trail that's by The District. Want to try to connect that into the Museum Trail. There are a lot of things that we can connect and people can really enjoy it.

Paul:

You being a doctor, you being a cardiologist, what is the true benefit of exercising, getting out and moving?

Dr. Hays:

Well, there's no question about it helps. I mean, it's a good stress reliever. It's obviously a calorie burner, so that helps with lowering your blood pressure, improving your diabetes. I cannot tell you how many people I've met and I had no idea that I've met walking down the trail that said, "It's changed my life. I'm a little closer to the trail. I've lost 10, 20, 30, 40 pounds. I feel so much better."

And it also helps when they're taking their families out to ride their bikes. We don't have to worry about traffic. It's a safety issue, too. I know people have concerns about is it safe? Well, absolutely it's safe and it actually makes the neighborhood safer by people being around.

Paul:

Well, I think Jackson owes you and David Pharr, Ray Nielsen and others who have been involved in this project from almost day one a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you for your work on the Museum Trail and we'll see you out there on two feet or two wheels. Right?

Dr. Hays:

There you go. That's exactly right. We're not done. And again, it's our trail. It's not David, Ray, and my trail, it's OUR trail and we hope everybody gets to use it.

Paul:

Our thanks to Dr. Clay Hays for sharing with us about his passion project, the Museum Trail, and all the benefits it brings to Jackson. Look for links to the trail, including project updates in our show notes.

Soul Sessions is produced by Visit Jackson, the destination organization for Mississippi's Capital City. Our executive producers are Jonathan Pettus and Dr. Ricky Thigpen, and I'm our managing editor.

You want to know more about our mission, about the things that we do at Visit Jackson? Well, you can find that at our website. Visitjackson.com. I'm Paul Wolf and you've been listening to Soul Sessions.

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