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Booneville, Mississippi A Case Study Assessing the Possibilities  Background The Small Town Center of Mississippi State University was contacted by Booneville, Mississippi with a request to study the entire town and make recommendations for improvements. In the Fall of 1996, a special topics course was developed in the School of Architecture involving a group of nine students. The objective of the course was to challenge the way in which we see and sense a place against the way others describe and project their perceived roles of society in the place. Ultimately, the goal of the course was to represent observations, find the underlying forces, and then to develop a line of investigation which would bring forward persons and institutions associated with conditions found, and offer a larger knowledge about the relationship of societal conditions within the built landscape. Development Over the course of a semester the students and members of the MSU Small Town Center spoke to citizens of Booneville, photographed and sketched various aspects of the town, and developed areas of research. Each student developed an area of research that they found interesting and in need of improvement within the community. All of the projects dealt with establishing a link from the natural environment to the larger community. (Go to Booneville OnLine to see more about our visit.) Round-table discussions were held with the community which allowed the students a first hand look at the residents ideas on improvements and at their personal opinions on the topics of research. The discussions were divided into four groups: Downtown Use, Anchoring Institutions, Historic Identity, and The Public Realm. The opinions and ideas that were formed from these discussions formulated research projects which included: •What Have You Inherited? Historical documents and personal interviews have recalled a historical account of Booneville. •Shaping an Identity By recognizing significant institutions and how the first-time visitor perceives this place, suggestions have been made to increase the presence of Booneville in its region.  •Discovering the Public SectorsBy encouraging residential areas and private institutions to maintain the public domain around itself public activity will become more vital and flourish. The sectors that were identified were: the Municipal Sector, the Scholastic Sector, a Wellness Sector, a Midtown Residential Sector, the Church Street Merchants Sector, the Second Street Merchants Sector, a Historic Downtown District and Residential Sectors. •What If Your Downtown Were Reconsidered?A series of scenarios were created and presented to encourage focus on several areas in the downtown area. •Nominating a Historic DistrictHistoric buildings of the downtown area were identified and classified as contributing and non-contributing types in order to establish a historic district. Historic Resources Inventories were developed for each building and a nomination has been submitted to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (For a copy of this document contact the Small Town Center)Retirement Community, current amenities and needs were identified to support and work toward supporting the retirees of the community. •Identifying the Retirement Community With the recent designation as a Mississippi Retirement Community, amenities and needs were identified to support and work supporting the retirees of the community. •Identifying the College Life The comparison of needs and wants of college students in Booneville and Starkville were identified in order to identify amenities the community should consider. •Establishing Connections Established and possible green spaces were identified throughout the town in order to think of the built and natural landscape as connected and supportive to public life. •Seeing Your Town Through Another's Eyes Photographs were taken and collected in order to raise an awareness of the beauty and possibilities in the community. In The End Throughout the process, a series of newspaper articles were ran describing items and ideas that were discovered and questions that were formed by the research. Then, in March of 1997 the students presented the research to the Rotary Club. Also, the presentation panels were exhibited in the gallery of the local community college. Since the seminar class, two documents have been produced. First, a full document, Booneville, Mississippi: A Case Study Assessing the Possibilities, (58 page, 6.9 mb PDF) has been written with in-depth descriptions of stated ideas and questions from the seminar course and the newspaper articles. A Historic Downtown Nomination document has also been compiled and will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Archives and History on September 17, 1998. The town of Booneville has listened to our suggestions and in their Chamber of Commerce 1998 Program of Work has began to establish such suggestions as the "Braggin Booneville" column in the weekly newspaper, promoting the slogan "Located in Historic Downtown Booneville", and they have begun to address such issues as the streetscaping plan, new downtown parking and rules, and other suggestions that will beautify their community.

This project was funded by the Booneville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Office of Research at Mississippi State University. The Mississippi State University Students involved were Brian Bassett, Jennifer Dobson, Gabrielle Donato, Ryan Hansen, Phong Le, Ginnette Lolli, Jim Martin, Maggie Measells, and Brian Wiginton. The director of the project was Shannon Criss. Download a 2 page pdf for printing. Download a 58 page pdf for printing This map describes the proposed "Booneville Loop" Which addresses a link of sidewalks connecting important institutions and neighborhoods.   A streetscape view of Church Street.    A sketch of suggested arbors and benches to allow for shaded resting places along the proposed "loop".     Alleyways in the downtown area were encouraged to be used as outdoor cafes or public pathways. This alleyway is on axis with the Courthouse and was suggested as becoming a significant feature in the downtown area becoming known as "courthouse-alley".