Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. Remember you can catch the preservation news as it breaks in our Twitter sidebar to the right. =====>>
In Lexington, the Holmes Co. hospital burned down Tuesday morning. Source: WLBT
Our lead story is from Lexington, about the arson investigation relating to the old Holmes County Community Hospital, which burned on the morning of Tuesday March 27, 2018. Built in 1930, the hospital was designed by the office of N.W. Overstreet and was listed on the National Register as part of the Lexington Historic District.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/37823410/arson-suspected-in-former-holmes-co-hospital-blaze
From Columbus, a story in the Commercial Dispatch about the city’s difficulties filling positions on city boards, one of which is a position on the Historic Preservation Commission.
http://www.neshobademocrat.com/Content/NEWS/News/Article/Work-underway/2/297/42860
From Natchez, we learn that this past Saturday was a fundraiser ball held for Stanton Hall.
https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2018/03/27/save-the-hall-ball-at-stanton-hall-saturday/
In Jackson, the Jackson Zoo is investigating whether it might want to move to Lefleur’s Bluff State Park, a move that it estimates could cost $50 million. Maybe if they spent that kind of money on keeping their big animals, like the elephants, the rhinoceros, and the orangutans, they would get more visitors at their current historic site on West Capitol Street.
I undoubtedly missed a story or two. 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: Columbus, Disasters, Hospitals/Medical, Jackson, Lexington, Mississippi Landmarks, Natchez, News Roundups, Preservation Law/Local Commissions, Theaters
Preservation in Mississippi 
As someone who has served as chairman of a local historic preservation commission, I can say from first-hand experience that it is a thankless job if you are an actual historic preservationist and if you are serving in a city that has less of a preservation ethos than it should, i.e. Columbus. Any preservationist who applies to serve on Columbus’s historic preservation commission would spend much of their time and effort fighting the very city government that they serve under (plus the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, another anti-preservation governmental body). I did that once; it was necessary to do so, but it was not fun.
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I agree, W., and after watching how city councils and board of aldermen treat the decisions of historic preservation commissions when a disgruntled property owner appeals, I often wonder how local commissions find enough people to operate at all. I’m thankful for those who continue to serve even under undeserved pressure from developers and council members. Local preservationists are the backbone of preservation, no doubt about it.
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What a shame that hospital burned down! I haven’t heard about that one until or I would have loved to visit the grounds.
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