Louisiana State University architectural students who have been in town designing plans for downtown McComb buildings will present their ideas from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at J.J. White Memorial Presbyterian Church fellowship hall.
This is the third year the students have come to McComb to work on plans for the buildings as part of a class exercise.
“I go at the beginning of each school year to discuss projects with the professors and meet students,” McComb Main Street Association director Roger Nickerson said.
He said the McComb Main Street Association chooses projects the students will work on for a full college course credit.
The students come to McComb for two weeks to do research and development and meet with property owners on ideas for renovating downtown buildings.
The third week is spent back at LSU polishing and refining their presentations.
“These students were very focused,” said Steve Cox of Cox Architecture in McComb, one of the property owners who chose to be part of the students’ project.
The second floor above Cox’s downtown office is not being used, but he said he is interested in developing it into apartments.
“My interest is renewed in doing something with the upstairs of my property,” he said. “I met with students who were assigned to my property three or four times to talk about my ideas.”
Cox also was one of the project’s hosts. He opened his office space to students for meetings and provided them a work space.
“There was a lot of interaction between me and the students during the two weeks, and what they will present on Friday will be three-dimensional models and detailed drawings that will give property owners or possible investors creative ideas of what they can do with their properties,” he said.
Plans for four other properties — the former McComb library and post office, the warehouse behind it, the Palace Theater and the Central House property near Bay Street and East Railroad Avenue in Magnolia — also will be on display Friday.
“We have been able to complete a new (vision) of downtown buildings,” Nickerson said. “This gives the developer or investor an idea of what is possible. I get referrals from around the country from different main street associations and learn how to provide tax credits for work to be done.
“If we can put more businesses downtown, we can add to the city’s tax base. Our goal is to have a downtown where people can live and work and have a market or gym or retail shop they can just walk to.”
Nickerson added that downtown already has 14 apartments and the goal is to have 65.
