The state of Mississippi is investing over $13 million in the renovation of Lefleur’s Bluff State Park’s museum district in Jackson. The planned expansion includes a walking trail, pavilion, and a golf course designed by world-renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones.
Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann said the investment is intended to boost tourism, attracting new tourists while entertaining Mississippians.
“We’re fixing to have a world-class, first-class place to take your children,” said Hosemann. “Whether you’re rich or poor or whatever, you’ll be able to go to a place where you can take your children. Fish, stay out overnight, all that kinds of things. Make something open to Mississippians that we’ve really neglected in the past quite frankly,” said Horsemann.
Horsemann said the state has employed four architectural firms to analyze the needs of the state parks in Mississippi and discovered that a few have significant damage to the infrastructure. The state allocated $38 million of ARPA funds to address these issues.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Interim Director Lynn Posey said the fund would assist in building new camping sites and cabins and modernizing amenities over the next few years.
“I think 3-5 years down the road you’ll really start seeing some tangible results, and real results before then, but it’s just going to take a while to cover a lot of ground. There’s a lot of parks out there that are affected, and we want to do it top-notch. We don’t want to do it just halfway this time, we’re going to try to do it the right way,” said Posey.
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith also announced federal funds to construct a new pedestrian bridge along Lakeland Drive to connect Leflure’s Bluff trails to the Sports Hall of Fame and Ag Museum.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.