Contact: Maridith Geuder
MSU professor Pete Melby (l) and Beauvoir executive director Robert Hawkins (second from right) with senior landscape architecture majors (from left) Lea Ann Neaves of Kosciusko, Michelle Crowley of Eupora and Jon Riley of Iuka.
A major Southern shrine of the post-Civil War era is getting some 21st-century advice from a group of Mississippi State University students.
More than 50 acres surrounding Beauvoir are the focus of a senior landscape architecture design class.
Built in 1848, the Biloxi beachfront estate was the final home to former Confederate States of America president Jefferson Davis. In addition to the residence, the property includes a new presidential library, veterans' cemetery and nature walk that attract more than 100,000 visitors annually.
"The site has abundant live oaks, magnolias, ferns, and other native vegetation," said landscape architecture professor Pete Melby. "Beauvoir's board of directors wished to develop a long-range plan that would improve and beautify the location."
Over the years, Melby has involved his classes in a number of community-based design projects. Earlier in Biloxi, for example, his students proposed landscape improvements to enhance city tourism and the Point Cadet residential/commercial area. They also came up with ideas for the development and construction of a saltwater marsh.
"Knowing our history with the city, Beauvoir leaders asked us to propose directions for the future," Melby said.
Robert Hawkins, executive director of the Jefferson Davis home and library, said the board is looking for fresh ideas.
"We want to emphasize the historical significance with the re-creation of historic gardens," Hawkins said. "We also want to beautify the overall site with new plantings, designs and nature trails."
What the students proposed more than filled the bill. "We couldn't have asked for more enthusiasm," Hawkins said.
Some two dozen students began the evaluation process with a two-day visit to the site. After returning to the Starkville campus, they immersed themselves for two weeks in an intensive effort to research, collaborate and develop initial proposals.
The group then divided into five teams, each developing a separate master plan to be completed by semester's end.
"The overall approach for each team is to bring back a living history," explained team leader Michelle Crowley of Eupora. "From one team that found an extensive history of Beauvoir, we learned that it had been a working farm, with scuppernong vineyards, satsuma orange groves, and a host of animals raised for food."
The students also found designs for Mrs. Davis' original gardens. With these, they conceived of a return to the working-farm concept, with re-created gardens and such animals as peacocks and horses.
"Our proposals will detail work that can be done in stages, as time and resources allow," said Brian Hudson of Ripley, another team leader.
In a recent visit to campus, Beauvoir's board of directors received an initial presentation. "It's been an exciting process," executive director Hawkins said after hearing the students' ideas. "We'll look at the student proposals to see if there are elements we'll adopt."
As in every previous request he has received, Melby emphasizes to all involved that the academic project is only undertaken as a way to generate ideas. "Actual design work would be done by professional landscape architects," he said.
For the MSU students, however, the project is much more than "academic" exercises.
"It's been good experience in how to meet with clients and talk to them about real projects," Crowley said. "I think we gave them ideas they never considered."