Courtesy Mississippi Development Authority
Accurate architecture
Despite their newness, both the convention center and the Grand hotel, echo the city’s historic look.
The center is no modern box dropped in amongst antique architecture. Instead, its facade is interrupted by pillars, storefront-style windows and balconies, all elements that help it fit in. ”It looks like a bunch of different shops from outside,” said Tipton.
Inside, the center follows a simple two-story floor plan. On the first floor, an 18,000-square-foot exhibit hall can be divided into as many as three rooms. Large doors allow vehicles and other large items to be easily moved in for display. There’s a 5,100-square-foot prefunction area, a full-service kitchen and an executive boardroom.
Up a grand staircase are eight meeting rooms, 6,670 square feet of space in all. Several of the rooms have balconies that overlook Main Street.
Two nearby buildings can be used in tandem with the convention center.
The Natchez Community Center, a former automobile dealership, was bought and restored by the city and served as a temporary meeting space as the convention center was being built. It remains popular for meetings and other events.
When the state’s firefighters association meets in Natchez, its trade show spills over from the convention center exhibit hall to the community center’s 5,000 square feet of open space. Other groups, such as the Mississippi Realtors Association, use it for receptions and dinners.
“It was just going to be a temporary place to meet, but it has become so popular,” said Tipton. “We book it a lot.”
The 1939 City Auditorium, with a stage and seating for 900, can be used for general sessions but is mainly used for concerts and local events. It is a block from the center.
Hotel echoes old mill
The new hotel, the 119-room Grand, is a ringer for the cotton mill that once stood where it does now. “It looks surprisingly like the mill when you hold up old photos,” said Tipton.
The hotel opened as Country Inn and Suites, but Warren Reuther, a part owner of the Grand, decided early on to end that franchise agreement.
It was an expensive decision, no doubt, “but it has proven to be a good move,” said Tipton. Now the hotel can make upgrades as it wishes and add the special touches that allow the hotel to “fit the character of the town better,” said Tipton.
The Grand is complemented by the historic 131-room Eola Hotel, about a block from the convention center in the opposite direction. The Eola also operates a 16-room boutique-style guest house.
Attendees can also stay in limited-service chain hotels, a casino property, numerous bed-and-breakfasts and several small inns, such as the 14-room Natchez Manor, where a different designer has decorated each room.
Both the Eola and the Grand have meeting space (about 5,000 square feet each) that is often used for larger groups, such as the Mississippi Bandmasters.
“The Grand and Eola are like sister properties supporting the convention center,” said Tipton.
Small groups that prefer distance from downtown’s distractions can meet and stay at Dunleith and Monmouth Historic Inn, two restored antebellum homes, on urban acreage.
Dunleith dates to the late 1790s; today, its 40 acres encompass a historic inn and outbuildings with 22 guest rooms. Parlors and a second-floor gallery are used for small meetings; in the evening, groups can gather around bonfires or in the open courtyard for storytelling or scavenger hunts.
