Dollars, Heritage, and Race in Natchez

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to generate grassroots support for planning before the plan
• How to plan for fragile historic communities dependent up heritage tourism
• How to navigate the thorny issue of race-based politics

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Natchez, Mississippi’s international reputation for antebellum architecture draws thousands of visitors annually, yet the community struggles with many economic and racially based challenges. Learn how these issues are addressed through a recent downtown master plan funded entirely by more than 300 citizen donations. Key focuses of the master plan included preserving the integrity of the old Spanish Parade Ground on the river’s bluff, yet improving it to accommodate special events; converting one-way streets to two-way traffic flow; saving and rehabilitating historic buildings in the “MLK Triangle” area via African-American heritage tourism to include the inherent blues-music theme; and establishing a downtown revitalization entity to implement the plan. This session will feature three speakers, each of whom played different roles in the planning process for downtown Natchez, Mississippi.