Page 189 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2015

Biloxi has also blossomed during the restoration process. The Hard Rock Casino added a new hotel wing. The Golden Nugget Casino bought the
Isle of Capri and refurbished all its rooms, and Harrah’s Casino took a blighted area on the beach side of its property and turned it into a great lawn for concerts and other events. Private investors also plan to restore the old Casino Magic Hotel Tower on the south side of the beach, and add a water park.
The crowning jewel of Biloxi’s revival is the
$38 million MGM Ballpark across from the Beau Rivage Casino, built in partnership with the casino, the city and private investors. It is expected to revitalize the downtown business district where several new restaurants and nightclubs have already opened.
Newly-elected Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gillich said a total of $355 million in infrastructure improvements are underway focusing mainly
in East Biloxi. “We are still very much a work in progress, but I see a canvas that is ready to show a beautiful, special place known as Biloxi, and that’s what we’re going to make happen,” he said.
Smaller cities, such as Pass Christian and Long Beach, are also making comebacks, but at a slower pace. New city halls, police and fire stations have been built, and new housing permits are up, despite the cost of higher elevation and insurance.
Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott
said the $35 million expansion of the harbor is
complete, adding 130 new boat slips. He estimates the infrastructure restoration is two-thirds complete. “We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go,” he said. “My number one priority now is getting one or two hotels to locate in the city.”
Long Beach Mayor Billy Skellie also said harbor improvements
are complete, and businesses are coming back downtown. Housing construction is up, and the city’s infrastructure is complete south of the railroad tracks, and continuing north of the tracks. “I feel good about the future. Long Beach is still one of the best places to live,” he said.
To the north of Biloxi, D’Iberville is prospering with the new Promenade Shopping Center on the west side of Interstate 10 and the Wal-Mart Shopping Center on the east side. A third shopping center,
the Gulf Coast Galleria, is planned for the I-10 and I-110 corridor. A $40 million diverging diamond interchange was recently opened to more safely channel traffic into the shopping centers and into D’Iberville and Biloxi.
The city’s first casino, the $300 million Scarlet Pearl Casino, is scheduled to open in mid-December. City Manager Bobby Eleuterius predicted, “It will be a game-changer, bringing even more visitors into the downtown area.”
OPPOSITE PAGE: The Barksdale Pavilion is just one of many great new features in the revitalized Jones Park. ABOVE: The new City Hall buildings in Pass Christian (top) and Long Beach (bottom) demonstrate how their cities are making a comeback.
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August 2015 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 189