LONG-AWAITED
Southaven unveils senior center, Snowden Grove upgrades
Southaven took the wraps off a longanticipated senior citizens center June 9, bringing to fruition a project dating to the administration of former mayor Greg Davis.
At about 17,000 square feet, the complex within the Southaven Parks Department building at Snowden Grove Park finally gives the city’s senior citizens the meeting and recreation space sought since Davis first proposed a freestanding building for city-owned property on Getwell.
“We made a commitment, and we’ve met it,” Mayor Darren Musselwhite said in remarks before tours of the facility on June 9. The city also showed off improvements to the nearby baseball complex and to BankPlus Amphitheater.
All the work — about $4 million for the senior center and baseball complex upgrades — was financed through the city’s Penny For Your Parks tourism tax, a fact trumpeted by Musselwhite.
“We spent zero general fund dollars,” Musselwhite said.
“We have a simple choice: We can build these facilities with the tourism tax, or the burden can go back on our taxpayers,” he said.
Musselwhite lobbied DeSoto County legislators in the audience, who will be the ones to extend the tourism tax when it comes up for renewal. The tax, one percent of gross sales at Southaven restaurants, is on track to generate $1.8 million this year. About 60 percent of the money comes from people who aren’t residents of Mississippi, Musselwhite noted, meaning amenities like those unveiled JHune 9 are largely financed by visitors to the city and not Southaven taxpay-
ers.
The renovated meeting and recreational space for seniors is housed in what used to be offices and a gym used by a cheerleading organization.
Aldermen approved a $1.82 million bid from Jaycon Development of Memphis last July for the project.
Davis originally planned to build a senior center on a lot purchased by the city on Getwell Road.
That project carried a $9 million price tag, however, and never progressed after Musselwhite replaced Davis as mayor.
DeSoto County Supervisor Lee Caldwell praised the senior center compromise, calling the center an amenity that benefits all DeSoto residents. Anyone 60 years old and older who lives in Mississippi can join the center, not just Southaven residents.
Improvements at the baseball complex, which draws thousands of players and families from across the nation for the Dizzy Dean World Series tournament each summer, include adding roofs and chair back seats to create “mini-stadiums,” along with bathroom and concession upgrades.
The improvements were an incentive to get Dizzy Dean officials, who had discussed moving the tournament to Georgia, to recommit to Southaven for 10 years.
The amphitheater gets a stage enclosure to improve acoustics and aesthetics, with side panels for video boards and facilities for equipment storage.