(Photo from Mississippi State University’s Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center website)
- Mississippi State University’s Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center will work with the communities on their specific projects.
Eleven Mississippi communities are receiving Small Town Revitalization program grants to support projects ranging from master plans to pocket parks to street art to retail hubs and more.
Mississippi State University’s Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center announced the awards this week, the funding for which came by way of a federal appropriation supported by U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
The 11 communities receiving the grants are:
- Booneville
- Carthage
- Columbia
- Eupora
- Falcon
- McComb
- Pascagoula
- Ripley
- Saltillo
- Tunica
- Water Valley
Small Town Center Director Leah Kemp said in a statement that MSU will work with the selected communities to design and implement their proposed projects.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our state and are humbled that our longstanding record of service to our communities has been entrusted to carry out this task,” Kemp said.
Kemp called the funding “a game-changer for the Small Town Center and communities across the state.”
“It allows us to make a significant impact toward revitalizing Mississippi communities and catalyzing further growth and improvements,” she added.”
About Mississippi State University’s Small Town Center
The Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center is a research center housed in MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design. Since 1979, the center has worked to provide meaningful design and planning solutions for small towns.
According to the university, the center has partnered with national organizations over the years, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Fannie Mae Foundation, the National Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Mississippi Development Authority, among others.
The revitalization grant program is a community-focused placemaking and revitalization program that works with MSU.
Frank Corder
