Contact: Maridith Geuder
Three municipal summits in Northeast and Central Mississippi during November will address the effects of changing technology and transportation on varied communities.
The 8 a.m.-5 p.m. meetings are scheduled Nov. 16 in West Point, Nov. 17 in Meridian and Nov. 18 in Madison.
Organized by Mississippi State University's School of Architecture, the programs will involve a cross-section of community residents. The sessions feature a team of state and national experts seeking to involve participants in community planning and growth activities.
"The idea grew out of a suggestion by 3rd District Congressman Chip Pickering to explore ways historic preservation and economic development can be complementary," said coordinator Michelle Weaver Jones of the architecture school's Small Town Center.
"These are the first programs of this type in the state, and we hope to expand it across the entire congressional district as a pilot project," she added.
Sponsored by the MSU center, Mississippi Main Street Association and the Historic Preservation Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the summits will encourage residents to identify and solve problems in their communities.
Keynote speaker for the daily luncheons is Donovan Rypkema of Washington, D.C., a National Trust for Historic Preservation consultant and the author of "The Economics of Historic Preservation: A Community Leader's Guide." His topic will be the effects of growth and change in communities.
Other program leaders and their topics include:
--Pratt Cassity of the University of Georgia's School of Environmental Design, recognizing natural and cultural resources;
--Shannon Criss, director of the Small Town Center, memory mapping of the community;
--John Hildreth, director of the southern region office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, design changes in rural America;
--Ken P'Poole, director of the historic preservation division of the state Department of Archives and History, transportation and economic vitality;
--Beverly Meng, director of Main Street Mississippi, the Main Street program.
Jones said West Point, Meridian and Madison were chosen to represent various municipal populations and issues specific to each.
The West Point meeting will take place at the city hall auditorium; Meridian, at the downtown Union Station; and Madison, at the Madison United Methodist Church.
Also providing support for the summits are the Billups-Garth Foundation, Canton Redevelopment Authority, Fannie Mae Foundation, state Department of Economic and Community Development, Mississippi Valley Gas, U.S. National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Tennessee Valley Authority, and MSU's Office of Research.
Established in 1979, the architecture school's Small Town Center develops educational projects in local communities and researches small town issues in Mississippi and the nation.
Mississippi Main Street is part of a national program coordinated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. MDAC's Historic Preservation Division was established in 1970, in part, to administer the state's National Historic Register program.
For more information about the Small Town Summits, contact Jones at telephone (662) 325-2520 or e-mail gmwj@ra.msstate.edu.