|
|
Gulfport Mississippi Updates
Gulfport Mississippi Updates includes general business and community interest news occurring within the City of Gulfport with an emphasis on positive events and activities in the Orange Grove area of Gulfport Mississippi.
October 20, 2008 DDR Gulfport Promenade Update 1) The old Waring Oil and Neill Gas facility is being dismantled this week in preparation for DDR Gulfport Promenade shopping mall. 2) Create, a New York City based architectural firm has posted artist renderings for the new DDR Gulfport Promenade shopping mall. Because of Dedeaux Road intersecting with MS Hwy 605, the mall project is split into two physical sections. Gulfport Promenade South is listed as 353,555 square foot "Power Center" with 3 anchor stores plus 45,000 square feet of additional smaller retailer space. Gulfport Promenade North is listed as 342,000 "New Life Style Center" that will include a "Main Street" plus small anchor stores. The term "Power Center" and "New Life Style Center" are used to describe the type of shopping mall or layout of the shopping mall.
October 17, 2008 Congregation Beth Israel to have Groundbreaking on October 26 The only Jewish synagogue in South Mississippi is relocating to Orange Grove area of Gulfport due to Hurricane Katrina having severely damaged the old synagogue located at the corner of Southern Avenue and Camellia Street just north of Hwy 90 in Biloxi. The groundbreaking will be held on Sunday October 26 at the new synagogue location, 12277 Three Rivers Road, about 1 mile north of Dedeaux Road and just south of O'Neal Road. The synagogue is being built on land donated by Martin Goldin and will include nearly 5,100 square feet of sanctuary, social hall capable of seating 200 as well as classrooms and a library. Construction should be completed in the Spring of 2009. Since Hurricane Katrina, Congregation Beth Israel has been meeting at Beauvoir United Methodist Church in Biloxi.
October 17, 2008 First Presbyterian Church of Gulfport to have Groundbreaking on October 19 Shortly after Hurricane Katrina the First Presbyterian Church of Gulfport had announced they would relocate to Mississippi Hwy 605 along with the First Baptist Church of Gulfport. The long awaited announcement of the First Presbyterian Church of Gulfport has been made. The formal groundbreaking will happen this Sunday at 2:30 PM.
The new First Presbyterian Church of Gulfport was designed by Guild Hardy Architects and will include over 18,000 square feet of Phase 1 development shown above (photo courtesy of fbcgulfport), with plans for Phase 2 already started. The church will be located on about 10 acres of land fronting O'Neal Road at the intersection of O'Neal Rd and Mississippi Hwy 605 (about 1/2 mile north of First Baptist Church of Gulfport) and will have seating for 250 plus classrooms, gymnasium and offices. Since Hurricane Katrina, First Presbyterian Church has been meeting at Bayou View Elementary School. For complete information on the development please visit fpcgulfport.org and follow the links to "New Church" as well as the blog with pictures devoted to the new church development.
October 7, 2008 Groundbreaking for the Gulf Coast Bridge Club The Gulf Coast (Gulfport) Bridge Association is having a groundbreaking ceremony for their new 5,100 sq ft building on 4th St at Three Rivers Road, just one block north of the Three Rivers and Dedeaux Rd intersection. The new building is expected to be completed around the end of 2008. The OLD building was located on Oleander St, about 1/2 block north of US Hwy 90. Oleander is 5 blocks east of Dolan St (Lynn Meadows Discovery Center) and 3 blocks west of Mississippi 605 (Cowan-Lorraine Rd with Gulfport Fire Station-7). Of course everybody knows what happened to any building that close to the water during Hurricane Katrina and the old Gulf Coast Bridge Club building was no exception.
October 5, 2008 Plans for Gulfport Fire Station-7 have been released The Sun Herald has reported the plans for Gulfport Fire Station 7 are complete and will include beach inspired architecture and bays at least 40' long so as to hold another 100' platform aerial truck. (Yes there are factual errors in the Sun Herald story, what can we expect from a newspaper with the nickname "The Daily Error"?)
September 19, 2008 DDR Gulfport Promenade Update Waring Oil and Neill Gas have moved from their Mississippi Hwy 605 location (situated to side and rear of McDonald's) to 12202 Hwy 67 North in Woolmarket (Exit 41 from I-10). Neill Gas has been providing propane for Dogwood Ceramic Supply's forklift since the day we acquired the forklift. We will miss having propane gas refills so convenient, but having the Waring Oil and Neill Gas complex relocate is critical for clearing the land for the DDR Gulfport Promenade Mall development.
September 16, 2008 Gulfport Fire Department's Ladder 10 joins Gulfport Fire Station 10.
Gulfport Fire Department Engine 10 (E-10), a rescue-pumper, has been joined by Ladder 10. Ladder 10 is a 100' ladder which was previously the main ladder truck from the Gulfport Central Fire Station in downtown Gulfport. Ladder 10 has been relocated to Fire Station 10 until such time that the new Fire Station 9 is built and ready to accept the large ladder. The City of Gulfport has recently purchased a new 100' aerial platform ladder from E-One as the main ladder truck for the Central Fire Station, thus allowing a large ladder truck to be located in the Orange Grove area of Gulfport to support existing businesses and future economic development in this area. Located between Engine 10 and Ladder 10 and slightly hiding behind the brick column separating the garage doors is a small skiff used as a rescue boat for inland waterway rescues.
September 16, 2008 Dedeaux Road Widening Project is Progressing Traffic Counters have been installed all along Dedeaux Road and adjoining roadways as part of the $15 million project to widen Dedeaux Road from Three Rivers Road to Lorraine Road (MS Hwy 605). Currently $2 million is budgeted for engineering, environmental, route selection and right of way acquisitions. Engineering began in December 2007 with completion of plans expected in December 2008. The 18-month construction project to widen approximately 2.5 miles of roadway has an estimated start date in fiscal year 2010. The Dedeaux Road Widening Project will affect Dogwood Ceramic Supply as our showroom and warehouse is in the area to be widen. While we dread any disruptions the road construction may cause, we also realize this project should have been completed many years ago and is in the best interest of the entire community.
September 14, 2008 First Baptist Church of Gulfport
A big improvement versus the remnants of the Gulfport First Baptist Church courtesy of Hurricane Katrina.
August 15, 2008 It is moving day at the Gulfport Mississippi Roadway and Yellow Freight terminal located on Dedeaux road. The new terminal is located on Seaway Road. For the Out-of-Towner's, Seaway Road runs between Lorraine Road (Mississippi 605) and Three Rivers Road, parallel to I-10, while Dedeaux Road (the road which Dogwood Ceramic Supply is located) runs between Lorraine Road, crosses Three Rivers Road to U.S. Hwy 49, also parallel to I-10. Why is Roadway and Yellow Freight relocating their terminal? Ah, the $64,000 question. The answer is actually pretty simple: Because DDR Gulfport Promenade needed the land for their development on Dedeaux Road at Mississippi 605. DDR (Developers Diversified Realty) is the real estate development group that owns Crossroads Center (the 540,00 square foot open-air shopping center along US Hwy 49 just north of I-10) and has had long term plans to develop a similar shopping complex on Mississippi 605 at Dedeaux Road. The initial plans for DDR Gulfport Promenade included about 40 acres of retail mall space on the south side of Dedeaux Rd at MS 605 and a similar sized development on the north side of Dedeaux Rd, but some media accounts are stating 100 total acres will be developed. And the Roadway/Yellow Freight terminal was occupying premium land within the development area. So DDR purchased a nice chunk of property in the industrial park along Seaway Road and built a larger terminal for Yellow Freight Systems to use for both Roadway and Yellow Freight. Signage is already up stating the DDR Gulfport Promenade to be on track for a Fall of 2009 opening. And according to SEC filings as well as media reports, DDR has secured $60 Million in Gulf Opportunity Zone tax-free bonds issued by the State of Mississippi for the Gulfport Promenade project so the project must be developed within the time limits of the bonds.
SO... what stores will be located in the Gulfport Promenade Mall? No list of stores has been made available as of this moment. We can be fairly certain that Best Buy is not going to be located in the Gulfport Promenade Mall as Best Buy is currently completing a new store on US Hwy 49 across from Crossroads Mall. Obviously no stores would relocate from Cross Roads Mall either. The DDR development at MS 605 was long rumored to be the site of Gulfport's Target Store, but with Target purportedly planning a store in the new mall at I-10 and I-110 in d'Iberville, it would seem doubtful that Target would have two stores within a couple Interstate exits from each other. Even without Target at Gulfport Promenade, we can expect a strong mix of national and large regional chains typically found in DDR developments. Of course we can still hope for Target! What about McDonald's on MS 605? No specific news, but most rumors on the street speculate that McD's will remain in the current location. The only other business to remain within the DDR Gulfport Promenade development area is Gulfport Fire Station 10 located on Dedeaux Road just over 1/4 mile from MS 605. Fire Station 10 is at the furthermost edge of the proposed development area and development to any point further West is not possible due to the utility easement, so we are fairly certain that Fire Station 10 is not moving. Which is good news because Gulfport Fire Department has plans for Station 10. At the western end of Dedeaux Road is Gulfport Fire Station 9. Station 9 is an old structure that in preceding days was used as an industrial garage. When Gulfport annexed this area the garage was quickly converted to a small fire station for use by the City. Needless to say Station 9 is just barely able to suffice as a fire station, much less as the major fire station needed for the Orange Grove area of Gulfport, and is far too small to house a large ladder truck. With the large malls and multi-story developments (Garden Park Hospital and the new 6 story Holiday Inn come to mind) along Hwy 49 as well as north of I-10, it is becoming increasingly important for Gulfport Fire Department to locate a large ladder truck somewhere north of I-10. During this spring, the City of Gulfport authorized the purchase of 4 acres of land on Dedeaux Road, close to the Fire Station 9's current location, as well as a new 100' aerial platform E-One ladder truck.
(Gulfport Fire Department Ladder Trucks in action.
The City's long term plans are to house the old main ladder truck at Gulfport Fire Station 9. But, since it will take nearly 2 years to build the new fire station, in the mean time the big truck will be housed at Gulfport Station 10.... Station 10 is only 1 mile from Dogwood Ceramic Supply.
At the southern end of MS 605, Gulfport Fire Station 7 is being relocated to higher ground. Fire Station 7 will still be located on Cowan (Lorraine) Rd, also known as MS 605, just a few hundred yards to the north of the current location. Yes, it really is higher ground. The future site is near the surge line of Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately Station 7 must be located in that general area because the fire station primarily serves the population that lives SOUTH of the CSX railroad. Since Congress failed to allocate the funds to relocate the CSX railroad after Hurricane Katrina (and people live south of the CSX railroad) Gulfport is forced to locate fire stations south of the CSX railroad. The new Fire Station 7 will be larger than the old Station 7... with plans to locate another aerial platform truck at Fire Station 7 sometime in the future due to condo growth along the beach (US Hwy 90) as well as business development along MS 605. What other development is occurring along MS 605? For Dogwood Ceramic Supply's purposes we are really on concerned with the development along MS 605 in the area north of I-10. The first project to be completed in this area is the Gulfport's First Baptist Church. Construction of the large church campus on MS 605 about 1/2 mile North of I-10 was essentially completed a few weeks ago, with minor finishing works and landscaping yet to be completed. There are other developments are in the works. We will update as permits are issued or ground is broken.
Copyright Notice: All content and pictures, unless otherwise specifically noted, are the opinion or property of Dogwood Ceramic Supply and may not be used or copied in any format unless proper credit or attributes have been given. All pictures include copyright notices embedded in the picture.
Showroom Business Hours: Closed Wednesday and Sunday Web Page Last Updated: Dogwood Ceramic Supply, the complete source of ceramic and pottery equipment and supplies for professional and hobby ceramist and potter. |
