Grant sought for Meridian’s historic Threefoot

State News

September 8, 2010

Anonymous Associated Press Wed Sep 08, 2010, 09:53 AM CDT

JACKSON — Harsh economic times have stymied efforts to restore Meridian’s Threefoot Building, a 16-story Art Deco structure now listed as one of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places.

Built by a prominent family in the 1920s, the building is one of only three Art Deco skyscrapers in Mississippi. The others are the Standard Life Building and the Plaza Building, both in Jackson, said David Preziosi, executive director of the Mississippi Heritage Trust.

Mayor Cheri Barry and officials with the state Department of Archives and History are seeking $150,000 in grants to stabilize the building until officials can reach a renovation deal with a private developer.

Hank Holmes, director of the archives agency, said he’s planning to examine the building later this month to gauge its condition after years of decline.

“I understand it’s not in very good condition,” Holmes said. “There are really no available grant programs now, but there may be some emergency stabilization money through the state Department of Archives and History.”

Threefoot is an icon, Holmes said: “It’s one of those buildings that so many people across the state can identify.”

It is still the tallest building in Meridian, a city with a population around 40,000 in central Mississippi. Its name comes from the family who developed it. The Dreyfus brothers translated their family name, which means “three foot,” from German to English, historians say.

The building had an inauspicious start.

A vision of Sam Threefoot, it was completed in 1928, right before the Great Depression. The family had been in the grocery and cotton brokerage businesses.

“It was bad timing. It wasn’t successful. It seemed to never really have a heyday,” said Stuart Rockoff, the historian for Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life.

According to the institute, Sam Threefoot later took his life because of financial ruin.

Rockoff believes the building has “great potential” for downtown Meridian since it’s the most prominent feature of the skyline.

The city owns the building, once used for office space but vacant for years. The trust submitted Threefoot Building for the national endangered list released in May. It’s located near the historic Marks-Rothenberg Building, now known as the Mississippi State University Riley Center, and an opera house.

“We’re hopeful they’ll get some funding to stabilize it for the meantime. One of the reasons for being on the endangered list is that it will help with grant funding and possibly find some other developer who is interested,” Preziosi said.

For now, Barry said Threefoot Building is a casualty of the national economic downturn. She said it’s a $60 million to $70 million project to restore the building because “it’s in deplorable condition.”

Barry said city officials had been in negotiations with HRI Properties, the New Orleans-based company responsible for the restored King Edward hotel in Jackson, to transform the building into a hotel.

Barry said the city’s talks with the company ended when local leaders decided against pursuing a $16 million revenue bond.

“We certainly want to look at all of our options, but during these hard economic times when we’re looking at furloughs and cuts, I cannot put the money toward restoring any building,” Barry said.

HRI President Tom Leonhard said his company had signed a contract with the city, but he understood the reason for the pullout earlier this year. Leonhard said his company’s urban renewal projects require a public-private partnership and often a financial commitment from cities.

“We’re hopeful that when the capital markets improve and the financial position of Meridian improves, we can revisit the Threefoot project,” Leonhard said.

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