June 2, 2009: “Do Lake Plans Endanger Indian Mounds?” the Jackson Free Press asks. This is in regards to the so-called Two Lakes plan to develop the Pearl River in Jackson. I feel no need to wade into this controversial subject, other than to say I think it’s a boondoggle. Don’t you love the word boondoggle?

June 18, 2009: Renovation work at the Art Moderne Haven Theater in Brookhaven has stopped after the completion of the exterior rehab last fall. Interior work has been put on hold until the economy picks back up, according to an article in the Brookhaven Daily Leader http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20333457&BRD=1377&PAG=461&dept_id=172922&rfi=6

B'nai Sholom Temple (1896)

June 21, 2009: According to an Associated Press report in the Clarion Ledger “Brookhaven Jewish Temple May Become Museum,” the historic Jewish synagogue in Brookhaven may be donated to the local historical society for use as a museum now that its congregation has disbanded. You can read more about the temple at the  Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, another very handy digital archives that is making research a snap. 

June 21, 2009: An update in the Corinth Daily Corinthian “Verandah-Curlee House restoration plans move forward” about the planning work for the renovation of the Verandah-Curlee House (an 1860 house with early 20th-century rear addition). Statements like this from the architect make my sensitive preservation ears perk up:

His recommendation will include removal of the later rear additions made to the home. “I think the big issue here is dealing with the roof and dealing with the rear additions,” said Howorth. “We have to have a supportable plan in place to justify removing what has been there for many, many years and is therefore of historic value.”

Sounds like a “restoration” that fits into Stuart Brand’s “Scrapers” category, a restoration which according to none other than John Ruskin, “‘means the most total destruction which a building can suffer: a destruction out of which no remnants can be gathered: a destruction accompanied with false description of the thing destroyed.’

June 21, 2009: Clarion-Ledger updates us on several projects in downtown Jackson, including the King Edward, Standard Life, and the sometimes overlooked but still important Walthall Hotel renovations http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090621/BIZ/906210329/1005/Downtown-Development

And in other news, it’s hot as the dickens, my flowers are drooping pitifully, and it’s not even July yet. I’m not going to admit I’m thankful for air conditioning, I’m not going to admit it . . . .

Categories: Architectural Research, Brookhaven, Churches, Demolition/Abandonment, Historic Preservation, Museums, News Roundups, Renovation Projects, Theaters