"Incredible" Revitalization Begins in Heidelberg

HEIDELBERG – About 80 residents of Heidelberg turned out to begin the steps to revitalize their town.  “Incredible,” was how Randy Wilson, the principal architect of Community Design Solutions, based in Columbia, S.C., described the meeting. Wilson facilitated the planning charrette, or community design process and was impressed with the group.  “The people in Heidelberg were amazing,” said Wilson.  “They had the single largest public turnout as a percentage of population of any charrette we have ever done with 10 percent of the population attending.”

Heidelberg residents were participating in an intense, three-day “charrette” that engages citizens in developing strategies to revitalize their communities.  “The energy in the room was palpable,” said Wilson.  “When we called for people to sign up to volunteer for the committees over 40 people signed up!”

Randy Wilson, the principal architect of Community Design Solutions, based in Columbia, S.C. presents a revitalization proposal to Heidelberg residents.

The charrette process was provided through a partnership between the Mississippi MainStreet Association and the WAEM Regional Initiative through Jones County Junior College.  “This planning process is vital for towns to achieve sustainability,” said Patrick Scoggin, JCJC WAEM Initiative director.  “The Initiative’s mission is to support small town economies and to facilitate community development.”

Community leaders and members listened to a Mississippi MainStreet presentation of area research and recommendations, partially prepared by Arnett Muldrow & Associates of Greenville, SC.  “With proper planning,” said Tripp Muldrow, an urban planner with Arnett Muldrow & Associates of Greenville, SC, “Heidelberg can capitalize on the current development near the interstate."

Wilson, facilitator for Mississippi MainStreet, proposed numerous ideas about how to capture the inner beauty of some of the buildings already in downtown.  Other ideas included community campaigns for litter clean up, storefront cleanup and a banner program to start building an identity for the area.  

“A person needs to know that they are in Heidelberg, not just passing through,” said Wilson.  “Travelers on Interstate 59 need to know that they are missing something if they keep driving past Heidelberg.  We need to develop ideas to draw people off of the interstate and bring them into the heart of downtown.”

Heidelberg Mayor Juan Barnett addresses residents of Heidelberg as the town begins a revitalization plan.  On the wall is the town’s new slogan: Dig Deep. Live Well.

The urban planners noted that community pride is one of the strengths of Heidelberg.  With oil as a primary base to Heidelberg’s economy, residents have a reputation to continually dig deep within themselves to continue to thrive.  The team offered several ideas to the group about how to capture and build on that pride.  The phrase, “Dig Deep. Live Well” was also offered as the town’s slogan.  The slogan captures the essence of the community according to Muldrow.

As the town meeting wrapped up some were ready to begin the process. Several community members started to identify residents to serve on local committees to help develop planning goals: economic development, promotion and marketing, and design and beautification. 

“We are no longer in the dark” stated Mayor Juan Barnett.  “These findings have given us a roadmap to build Heidelberg into a better place to live. We want to capture this momentum and build on what we already have.”

Story written by: Patrick Scoggin and Teresa Martin, JCJC Media-Public Relations Director 601-477-4032
Photos by Patrick Scoggin, JCJC WIRED Grant Director, 601-477-5401