‘Katrina +10’ sees numbers increasing

The 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is just over two months away – 64 days, in fact – and this weekend the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art’s “Katrina +10 exhibit” is expected to begin its steady increase in visitors through Aug. 29, says Kevin O’Brien, manager of the east Biloxi museum.

The exhibition saw its 10,000th visitor a few weeks ago and is now nearing the 15,000 mark.

“We’re seeing more and more people through the doors each day,” says O’Brien. “This weekend, we’re anticipating a larger-than-normal crowd because the Fourth of July holiday is just around the corner, and next weekend, we’re looking for huge crowds. We see constant growth from here on.”

The exhibition, featuring the award-winning work of the Sun Herald, WLOX, Mississippi Power, the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Hands on Mississippi, is open daily through Sept. 12. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 daily, except Sunday, when it’s 1 to 4 p.m.

Elsewhere this weekend, you’ll find Don Rickles at the IP, Cowboy Blues at Harrah’s, Scott McCreery at Beau Rivage, and there’s a coin show at the Biloxi Civic Center.
See the entire weekend lineup

 

Commission OKs hotel design at Magic site

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director

This week in economic development, The Architectural/Historical Review Commission voted unanimously to approve the design for the exterior improvements to the former Casino Magic Structure. AHRC approval was necessary since the property is located in the Point Cadet Historic District. Phase 1 of the development will have 373 hotel rooms, a roof top water park and 2 restaurants. The engineered drawings for the water park were submitted earlier this week and are currently being reviewed. According to project spokesman Cono Carana Jr. the $84 million dollar project is expected to create 600 jobs.

Also this week, the DRC reviewed a preliminary subdivision plat for the property located at the northwest corner of Old Highway 67 and Woolmarket Road. The proposed subdivision has 86 single family lots and 2 acres of commercial development. Building permits were issued this week for 2 new single family houses, and plans were received for 2 more.

 

News and notes

Touchdown golf: The Biloxi Touchdown Club holds its annual golf tournament on Friday, July 10, at the Sunkist Country Club, and there’s time to sign up to play or to be a sponsor. Registration fee for the four-person scramble is $300 a team. Door prizes, raffles and a number of prizes will be awarded. For more info, click here.

Council back at City Hall: The Biloxi City Council will meet at Biloxi City Hall on Tuesday, after meeting for several weeks at the Biloxi Civic Center while the City Hall elevator was repaired. To see the agenda for the Tuesday meeting, click here.

Podcast: Biloxi Police Chief John Miller has good reviews for the recent Scrapin’ the Coast car show in this week’s City Desk podcast. To listen to the program, click here.

DRC agenda: The Development Review Commission, which oversees new construction in Biloxi, has two cases next week: a street vacation near the IP, and a church on Popp’s Ferry Road. To see the agenda, click here.