Happy New Year to all! It’s a new year and time for a new beginning. Help start the hugely-anticipated tricentennial of our town by visiting downtown during this year’s Possibilities Tour. Whether looking for a new business location or just curious about some of the vacant buildings in the downtown area, this year’s Possibilities Tour is sure to help you find the perfect place.

Kick off 2016 with the third-annual Possibilities Tour: “ Turning Deserted Spaces Into Dynamic Places!” From 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday in downtown Natchez, this tour will spotlight several of the empty buildings in the historic downtown area of Natchez. This event represents an ongoing partnership with Alcorn State University, Natchez Board of Realtors and Natchez Inc.

In order to help guide you through the tour and answer any questions you may have, the featured vacant buildings will have guided tours by local realtors and agents in the buildings they represent. We are proud to share with you that last year’s Possibilities Tour was honored at the 2015 Mississippi Economic Development Council’s Winter Conference Awards Banquet. The Possibilities Tour received the Community Economic Development Award. This award is a “best practices” program intended to recognize exceptional contributions of communities in the state for efforts in business retention, expansion and recruitment and community development and involvement.

This year the tour will spotlight the following buildings: 414, 512 and 520 Main St.; 406-408, 411, 500-502 and 524 Franklin St.; 207 State St.; 108 N. Union St. and the Herold and Miller building on the corner of Canal and High streets. Other properties may also be open that day!

Again this year, a special treat in each of the buildings will be the showcasing the creative economy of the region. Natchez and Adams County is full of creative entrepreneurs with talents to share with the community, its members, and those along this tour. Each vacant building will include these talented individuals showing and marketing their own products and fascinating skills. From photographers to painters and wreath makers to fresh, farm-made products, there is something for everyone to see while out on the tour throughout downtown Natchez. We may even have the delightful sounds of local musicians filling the streets of downtown as visitors moved through the properties.

This year, we will also have the buildings asking a question to its visitors. For example, a visitor may be asked “What kind of business could start here?” or “What is this space the perfect home for?” We encourage anyone who comes through the properties to write down their answers on cards in each building. These responses will be judged and prizes from local merchants will be given at 8 a.m. on Jan. 15 at Friday Forum.

This event will coincide with the first Second Saturday of 2016 — a weekend that always brings in many shoppers and tourists into the downtown area. We hope you will come see the possibilities in downtown Natchez, shop at a local merchant, and dine in our fabulous restaurants.

Again, the Possibilities Tour: “ Turning Deserted Spaces Into Dynamic Places”, will take place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, contact Aimee Guido with Natchez Inc. at 601-445-0288 or Dr. Ruth Nichols with Alcorn State University at 601-870-6000. We hope to see you there and help share the possibilities with you!

 

Aimee Guido is the communications manager for Natchez Inc.