Other ideas for the Threefoot building

The city council has approved the conversion of Meridian's iconic Threefoot building into a hotel, but a couple of weeks ago, the fate of the building was not so certain, and ideas about what else could be done with it were flying around town.

Now that the votes are cast, I thought I'd share some of the ideas for use of the building that I've heard during my coverage of the Threefoot project.

Regular readers of the Meridian Star may have read our Managing Editor Steve Gillespie's column which irreverently suggested that the building be converted into a multi-story indoor Bourbon Street. His idea inspired some other funny suggestions from Meridian Star staff and readers.

One person suggested that, instead of just Bourbon Street, the building should be made into an entire French Quarter, with different floors for Decatur Street, Royal Street, Esplanade, etc. Another suggested squeezing the entirety of downtown Meridian into the building, with one floor for shopping, one for art galleries, one for restaurants, and so forth.

While some were joking in their suggestions for the building, others had ideas that they knew wouldn't come to fruition, but that they thought would be cool if they did.

My husband thought the building, in all its art deco-ness, would make a great school of architecture for MSU. Another person, who wanted the building to provide entertainment for locals downtown, said they would have liked to see the building made into a mall with mostly local stores, and restaurants with live music on the first floor. Some who wanted to see the building put to use by the city rather than a developer suggested that it be converted into a new police station, with the first several floors as parking.

Since the council cast their votes, many people have told me they're just glad to know the building is being used for anything, and they don't want to be picky about what - though some of them have expressed a little apprehension about the city's investment.

If you have any fun ideas about what could have gone into the Threefoot building, e-mail them to me. If I get enough suggestions, I'll post them here later.

- Jennifer Jacob Brown
jjacob@themeridianstar.com

McCain's visit - the short version

Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain made a campaign stop in Meridian this week to kick off his biographical "Service to America" tour, in which he will visit places where he has lived in a military-related capacity. Here's a brief overview of his visit:

Yesterday, McCain appeared at the Wings Over Meridian air show just in time for the performance by the Blue Angels. Campaigning on a military base is illegal, so he shook hands but didn't make any speeches. He also attended a reportedly $1,000 per person invitation-only dinner last night.

This morning, McCain gave a speech at the Riley Center, talking about his family's heritage in Mississippi and speaking nostalgically about his parents and grand-parents. He went on to talk about the government's role in parenting, saying that the government "can't just throw money at public education" without accountability, and that "a welfare check can't give a parent a sense of purpose." Though he talked profusely on his family's past role in Mississippi, he did not shed any additional light on the purpose of his visit to Meridian.

Reportedly, McCain was scheduled to visit Hope Village for Children after his Riley Center speech.

Check tomorrow's Meridian Star for more on McCain's speech at the Riley Center

- Jennifer Jacob
jjacob@themeridianstar.com