MIAMI – Continuing in its work to help rebuild Biloxi, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is investing $250,000 to prepare an action plan and strategy to guide the redevelopment of East Biloxi – the city’s oldest, most culturally diverse and poorest neighborhood.
Overseeing the effort with Knight funding is Living Cities, an investor collaborative of major national foundations, financial institutions and a federal agency that works to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods in American cities.
The planning project will be a collaborative effort of Living Cities, the Mississippi Development Authority, the city of Biloxi and Biloxi residents and corporate leaders. Knight Foundation’s investment is being matched by a $125,000 contribution from the Mississippi Development Authority. Additional funds will be raised through contributions from the business community. Living Cities and some of its members are providing organizational development assistance at no cost.
The project’s goal is to define standards and set priorities to guide the rebuilding of East Biloxi, and to use the approaches developed there as models for other parts of the city. The challenge is to create a stable and sound residential environment that balances the need for new, affordable housing for the neighborhood’s largely African-American population with the reestablishment of the casino/entertainment industry, which is so important to the region’s economy.
This process is an opportunity for the residents of East Biloxi, to help ensure that their neighborhood is rebuilt in a manner responsive to their needs, and it can set a standard for how redevelopment should go in the rest of the city and along the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The work will be closely integrated with that of Biloxi’s new Reviving the Renaissance Committee, formed by Major A.J. Holloway to review recommendations for rebuilding the city. Over 200 residents, business leaders and other key stakeholders are actively involved.
We’re working toward a realistic plan to rebuild Biloxi, including the hard-hit eastern area of our city. Our goal is to have a plan that includes a realistic timetable and a realistic price tag, and a plan that takes into account the views of the diverse population we have here in Biloxi,” said Mayor Holloway.
“ The core challenge is to find a way to accommodate the interest of long-time residents of the area and the importance to the local economy of a strong casino/entertainment industry. Doing this requires a broadly participatory public process,” said Gordon Brigham, Gulf Coast consultant for Living Cities.
Just weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, Knight Foundation made a $1 million investment that formed half the funding for the Mississippi Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal. The commission’s work – including a series of intensive public design workshops – has resulted in a detailed plan offering over 200 separate recommendations for rebuilding 11 communities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The East Biloxi plan is the next step in this process.
Knight, a member of Living Cities and a national foundation with local roots in Biloxi, supports communities where its founders owned newspapers.
Since funding to Biloxi began in 1987, Knight has invested $7.8 million in the area, including $1 million in emergency funding in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, split between first responders, the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of Biloxi and other communities where the Knight brothers operated newspapers. To see and hear more about Knight Foundation’s work in Biloxi, visit www.knightfdn.org/annual.