The news that Applebee’s plans to bring its endless apps and bar snacks to a small corner of the Natchez Mall parking lot is certainly a step in the right direction for community leaders who recently complained that local economic development efforts were more focused on big industry than on retail.

Rumors of Waffle House and International House of Pancakes entertaining a Natchez move must have local mouths salivating and retail renaissance hopes rising.

Three new restaurants is good news indeed and much of the credit goes to city leaders who are making an active effort to reach out for retail.

Waffle House and IHOP have not yet committed to the area. Applebee’s, on the other hand, has submitted for city approval.

When the restaurant chain puts the first shovel into the ground, they will join Dollar General and Family Dollar as the newest national chain stores to give a boost to the Natchez economy.

Applebee’s could have a positive effect on the Natchez Mall which has seen better days. Like most malls built in the 1970s and 1980s, the Natchez Mall was once the place to shop and socialize.

These days, the mall is more empty than full, now that J.C. Penney has left the mall’s west anchor space vacant and dark.

It may be of little comfort, but the Natchez Mall is not the only shopping mall in America that has seen better days.

Just 90 miles away in Jackson and Baton Rouge are classic examples of once popular malls turned into retail dinosaurs because of a declining middle class and the rising popularity of online shopping.

As city leaders celebrate the arrival of restaurants and discount stores, they might begin to think out of the retail box to find creative solutions to this increasing mall problem.

What can be done with such a cavernous building?

Other communities have solved this problem by transforming the large mall spaces into office building spaces and medical facilities.

The old Jackson Mall on Woodrow Wilson Avenue,has found new life as the Jackson Medical Mall, promoting healthcare for neighborhoods that have been traditionally underserved. The transformation has been an economic boon for an economically depressed area of the city.

Given Natchez’s current healthcare climate, transforming the Natchez Mall into a medical facility may not be feasible.

One creative solution might be found in the Natchez-Adams School District.

In recent years, the current state of the community’s schools and the need for new facilities have been mentioned briefly by community leaders.

Given the amount of money required to build a new school, such discussions have not gained any traction.

As a result, the district has been left with aging buildings with many challenges.

Once state of the art, Natchez High School with its many exterior doors that empty into open courtyards, presents security challenges in a world where active shooter scenarios have become a reality.

Transforming the mall into a new high school, would not only address some of the deficiencies of the current high school, but it would also have the added benefit of bringing new life to a building that has seen better days.

Such a scenario may be many years away, but it might be worth considering.

Besides, what student wouldn’t love to have an Applebee’s just around the corner.

 

Ben Hillyer is the news editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or by email at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.