The former Eudora Welty Library in downtown Jackson could be a thing of the past come early 2025.
Spence Flatgard, president of the Mississippi Department of Archives & History (MDAH) Board of Trustees, said plans are to knock down the building in January.
Thrash Commercial Construction will have the task of taking down the building.
Thrash earned the job with a bid of $3,175,000, Flatgard said.
Four other companies submitted bids on the job. They were Fountain Construction, $3,345,000; Mid-State Construction of Mississippi, $3,995,000; Probity Contracting Group, $4,097,000; and Wildstone Construction Services, $4,700,036.
The demolition is expensive, Flatgard said, partly because a retaining wall in the basement of the building must be maintained so the neighboring Old Capitol Inn and State Street don’t have structural issues.
Plans are to tear down the library and leave the large cell phone tower, which is at the back of the building on North Street, he said. The tower will eventually be moved after another site is determined, he said.
The city of Jackson transferred the ownership of the library earlier this year to the MDAH so it could begin the demolition process, a step toward transforming the site into a green space. Books, materials, furnishings, including the Fletcher Cox-designed desks, have been moved from the Welty Library into space at the Jackson Medical Mall.
A fence surrounds the parking lot of the Welty Library, which is no longer in use. The banner that flew at the entrance to the library showing an image of the Jackson author and signage on the building have been removed. A sign on the fencing heralds “Future Home of Margaret Ann Crigler Park.”
Named for one of Jackson’s most celebrated writers, the Welty Library opened as a showplace in 1986.
The city purchased the former Sears building at 300 N. State St. for use as the downtown library at a cost of $878,056 in 1977.
The Jackson Friends of the Library campaigned for the purchase of the Sears building and worked to ensure a $2.7 million bond issue passed in 1982 that provided funds to renovate the building. The organization, led by activists Janet Clark, Pat Ross and the late Betty Jolly, also conducted a petition drive to have the library named in honor of Welty and later sponsored an opening gala.
The library fell into disrepair because water leaks and black mold resulted from a faulty repair of the roof after a hailstorm years ago. The nail in the coffin came when the air conditioning system needed to be replaced, which led to the building being permanently closed for months because it was too hot for it to be occupied.
After the building is demolished, the site, which sits in front of the Two Museums (Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum), will be transformed into a green space.
A gift from businessman Noble T. Crigler of Moon Lake, Misississippi. and Viola, Arkansas, which celebrates his love for his wife, set in motion plans for the space.
Crigler donated $1 million for the design of the park that will be named in honor of his late wife, Margaret Ann, who died in November 2021, and has also given an insurance policy that will provide for the perpetual maintenance of the park.
He wrote a check out for $1 million and gave it to Katie Blount (director of MDAH) and said, ‘Let’s get started,’” said Mike Espy, former congressman and agriculture secretary who is a member of the Foundation for Mississippi History that supports and promotes the activities, programs and projects of MDAH.
The green space is expected to cost $7 million to $8 million. The Legislature has provided some funding and there are efforts under way to raise funds from the private sector.
“We are in an active fundraising stage right now to build out the park after the demolition,” Flatgard said.
