Mississippi Heritage Trust Recognizes Outstanding Preservation Victories and Heroes

The Mississippi Heritage Trust has announced the recipients of the 2024 Heritage Awards. From the breathtaking transformation of the old Gulfport Library into Coast Transit Authority’s Gulfport Transit Center to hands-on history commemorating Pascagoula’s designation as a World War II Heritage City, this year’s awards honored the hard work and commitment of many individuals, civic organizations, educational institutions and local, county and state governments to preserve the places that tell the story of Mississippi.

Jackson's honorees included:

Heritage Awards of Merit for Rehabilitation

• The Pearl
  Not everyone would have seen the potential in the old Holiday Inn Southwest. Enter the Pearl Street Community Development Corporation and Gulf Coast Housing Partners. What was once a sadly dilapidated motel is now 76 affordable apartments for seniors and an on-site heath care clinic operated by Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Centers. Utilizing state and federal historic and low-income housing tax credits to undertake the $28.9 million dollar development, the hotel’s signature architectural features such as the floating staircase and sculptural folded concrete roof were restored or reconstructed by a crackerjack team that included McCarty Architects and Fountain Construction.

• WJDX Transmitter Building
  
  It was Mississippi’s second and Jackson’s first radio station. Hidden behind a 1970s building and years of overgrowth, the Art Deco jewel of a building that was once the WJDX Transmitter Building was largely forgotten until Scott Allen and the folks with A+ Signs and Creative took on the challenge to restore this Mississippi treasure. Today, the charm of N.W. Overstreet’s design, with its decorative lead-glass windows and bas-relief sculpture that evokes a vintage radio can once again be appreciated.

Heritage Award of Excellence in Stewardship of Historic Sites

• Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum Fortenberry Parkman Farmstead
  
  Constructed in 1858 and occupied until 1960, the Fortenberry Parkman Farmstead was moved to the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in 1981 to become the cornerstone of educational programs to tell the story of the everyday Mississippi farmer. As part of the Ag Museum’s 40th anniversary in 2023, living history interpreters prepared and shared foods commonly eaten in the 19th century to over 800 visitors. The celebration also included extensive plantings of period flowers while farmyard babies including triplet goats, chickens and a calf were welcomed.

The Mississippi Heritage Trust is a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and renewing places meaningful to Mississippians and their history. To learn more and see the full list of winners, visit mississippiheritage.com.