This is a roundup of our 2017 MissPres News Roundups.  Unless a huge story breaks this will be our last roundup for the year.

A tornado late Friday took the roof off the popular Singing River CrossFit at the corner of Ingalls Avenue and Market Street. Karen Nelson klnelson@sunherald

A Friday night tornado sucked the roof off of a large portion of the City Recreation Department_s gym on Pascagoula Street. from Pascagoula Recreation Department

William Carey Campus 1-22-2017

1017 & 1019 Edwards Street Hattiesburg,. Miss 1-22-2017

Cottrell Memorial CME Church Edwards Street Hattiesburg,. Miss 1-22-2017

Edwards Street Hattiesburg,. Miss 1-22-2017

Edwards Street Hattiesburg,. Miss 1-22-2017

One of the top news stories this year was damage to historic places caused by tornadoes and other powerful storms.  Tornadoes hit Biloxi, Durant, Flora, Hattiesburg, Natchez, Petal, Pascagoula.  With such an active season this year, it’s possible I missed one; if so please let me know in the comment section below.

Ellzey’s Hardware Biloxi, Miss. 5-11-17 from Keith Wilson/THE BILOXI-D’IBERVILLE PRESS

Silver Creek Baptist Church from MHP accessed 8-28-17

Silver Creek Baptist Church from MHP accessed 8-28-17

Drivers running their vehicles, intentionally or otherwise, into historic places was also a sad trend this year.  Such stories came from Biloxi, Jackson County, Natchez, Oxford, Silver Creek, Tupelo.  Again this was such a frequent occurrence this year I may have left some out, so please let us know if I did.

Shaifer House, Claiborne County

Firefighters gather at the scene of a building collapse in McComb on Sunday evening Matt Williams Enterprise-Journal

Ross Hall (c.1919), William Carey College, Hattiesburg. Photo June 2013.

Tatum Court Administration Building (1912), William Carey College, Hattiesburg. Photo June 2013.

Several historic places were damaged or lost to thievery or negligence this year.  One story from the beginning of the year I am sorry that I haven’t seen any more about was in the City of Clinton where a property owner faces more than 1,400 code violations to historic buildings.  Matt Wiggins of Kemah, Texas (also the notorious owner of Mt. Holly) pleaded guilty to more than one thousand misdemeanor charges of multiple code violations.

https://misspreservation.com/2017/02/13/misspres-news-roundup-2-13-2017-2/

Was anyone ever brought to justice for stealing parts of the Shaifer House?

https://misspreservation.com/2017/04/13/lets-nail-these-jackasses/

One of our first news roundups this year featured a story from the Natchez Democrat about then current threats to the federal tax credit program, and what you could do to help save them.  http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2016/12/23/federal-historic-tax-credits-at-risk/

Fast forward to the end of this year, we know the federal tax credit program is definitely endangered if the House decides to go with their version of the bill, rather than the Senate version.  Without this credit,

https://misspreservation.com/2017/12/04/politics-and-preservation-saving-the-historic-preservation-tax-credit/

What was the most memorable or notable preservation news story to you in 2017?  Did you notice any other themes or trends in the stories?

A quick readers poll looking forward to the news roundups 2018.  Do you like news roundups that cover as many stories as possible or would you rather have a focus on bigger stories with more in-depth analysis?

I am sure I probably missed some stories, so if you know of any preservation-related news items not mentioned, or if you have more information about a story above please let us know in the comments below.

Categories: Biloxi, Demolition/Abandonment, Disasters, Hattiesburg, Historic Preservation, Jackson, Natchez, News Roundups

Tags: Featured