C-L Editorial on the King Edward

Old hotel still has potential future

Fix it When visitors arrive at Jackson's spiffy new Union Depot transportation center, between them and two new multi-million-dollar conference centers is the pigeon-infested King Edward Hotel. Fix it, or call in the wrecking ball.

After nearly 40 years of neglect, the old King Edward Hotel has proved an enduring monument to dashed hopes and failed dreams, but that could finally be changing.

The Jackson City Council has only to make one more decision to allow a public/private group to perform one more assessment to see if the west downtown building can be saved.

If the Council OK's $4 million in federal funds to Jackson lawyer David Watkins, New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister and Historic Renovations, Inc., of New Orleans, the team of developers will perform an assessment in March. If that's "a go," then they'll begin a $55 million, two-year redevelopment project to turn the now-82-year-old eyesore into a showplace of 72 high-end one- and two-bedroom condominiums and 152 hotel rooms.Those are some big "ifs," especially since an exasperated Mayor Frank Melton has advocated since his June election that the building should be demolished for lack of progress. And he still hasn't changed his stance: "There's nothing more that I'd like to do than to give them a chance to make it work. But I'm still looking into having it destroyed. I have no option if something doesn't happen down there."

And Melton is right. With the nearby $17.5 million Mississippi Telecommunications Conference Center that is expected to open soon and the $61 million Capital City Convention Center set to open in 2008, an "unreconstructed" King Edward only serves as a blight that dims the bright accomplishments these new structures seek.As it is, when visitors arrive at the spiffy new Union Depot intermodal transportation center, between them and the two new conference centers is the decrepit, pigeon-infested King Edward. Fix it, or call in the wrecking ball.