Jackson Jambalaya

Ole Andy will prolly put a monster truck venue there.

Besides, there's a very nice one a little further south that will be empty after this season.

CoJ unable to manage water, sewer, little league baseball, zoo, animal control, public safety and now Miller-Wills baseball park. How on earth could current mayor be re-elected except what accomplished person would want to be CoJ mayor or council person?

Will someone Repo Chowke? Please.

CoJ unable to manage water, sewer, little league baseball, zoo, animal control, public safety and now Miller-Wills baseball park. How on earth could current mayor be re-elected except what accomplished person would want to be CoJ mayor or council person?

Make the 9 hole golf course a botanical garden and mini zoo.

Make Smith-Wills something as well assuming they can’t attract a single a minor league baseball team.

Attn 1:05 Have you tried to drive on the roads in Jackson?

I'm just an old softie. Hate to see Smith Wills taken down. Lots of good memories.

Time to demo that thing. Make it into parking.

Doug Wills, for whom he stadium is named, was a high school classmate and friend of mine at Murrah H.S. He was a great person and an incredible athlete. Sad to know that the honor of having a stadium named for you no longer has any sentimental value.

Just wait til Sista Rukia finds out!

I am sure the city will respond with charges of racism in a day or so....

Attn 1:27 pm. Why would anyone need to park there. Have you ever seen the museum parking lot full? While they are doing away with things, you might knock that museum down.

Belhaven needs a new baseball field. Maybe the president can get a hold of the state and tear the thing down and sell the land to belhaven for a new stadium or let belhaven play there and belhaven can pay for upgrades

Took my boys to their first "pro" game there with the Generals. Nice place at the time, before the descent into Third World corruption and civilizational incompetence. Got a foul ball and one of the MiLBers signed it. Kids grinning from ear to ear. Thank you, young man. Hope you got called up, but, either way, you were good. Fond memories.

@1:27 There is plenty of parking. My suggestion for the stadium and most vacant/abandoned properties: Plow it under and plant some trees.

Chowke and Rukia will be raising the race card in 3, 2, 1...

Maybe they can move the stadium to Madison County.

This one is not Jackson's fault, it is simply an antiquated stadium and nobody really has a need for it. The local schools have baseball fields on campus and bigger events want to use the newer stadium down the road. There is much better use for that land. You could have a really good park back there. We used to play in those woods back in the day.

Nickel beer night. How did anybody think that was a good idea and how did we all survive? But it was fun!

Jackson missed a huge sales tax boost without costco!

The state should demo and sell almost of of this land to the private sector.

That'll make an excellent goat roping arena.

This could put Mississippi back on the rodeo map!

There's plenty of rodeo clowne in Jackson already.

I saw NSync perform there in concert around 2001. Crazy times.

1:27 Parking for what?

I saw many AA baseball games at this venue way back when the Jackson Mets played there. After the stadium quit hosting baseball games there was a neat beer joint there named Left Field Lounge located around (where else?) left field area. Good memories!

"Anonymous Anonymous said...
Doug Wills, for whom he stadium is named, was a high school classmate and friend of mine at Murrah H.S. He was a great person and an incredible athlete. Sad to know that the honor of having a stadium named for you no longer has any sentimental value.

May 14, 2024 at 1:35 PM"

Never heard of her, but time moves on. It's not like it was named after Archie, Jerry Rice, Sweetness or Brett Favre.

Please send the rotted zoo down the same path, after transferring animals to more competent care.

Isn't it built on top of an old landfill or some other terrain that makes it unsuitable for any substantial structure?

1:05 - With regard to your question, "How on earth could current mayor be re-elected?" I think you know the answer.

1:27, parking for what?

1:05

You ever seen crabs fighting over a dead mullet?

1:35 What about Smith? Must not have sentimental value to you.

But but but what about the Legends League?

Some really cool stuff being planned in that area that will help the youth for all of Jackson, JPS and the surrounding area.

I believe that whole area used to be a landfill. Either there or the little league fields.

Correct me if wrong.

2:24 PM "The state should demo and sell almost of of this land to the private sector."

If you will take time to read...
"shall only be used by the City of Jackson for park purposes and purposes incident thereto, and when same shall cease to used for such purposes, said property shall revert to and become property of the State of Mississippi"
If it could be developed for business, Cosco would've been built there.

4:22 It's LEGACY. And don't laugh. Tim Bennett would have had Trustmark Park in Jackson.
"On Friday, April 5, 2024, Tim Bennett, owner of the Hank Aaron Sports Academy, announced the formation of the Legacy League. This league will be housed at the Smith-Wills Stadium (SWS) and will start playing in June 2025."
Hopefully the state will honor this.

Minor league stadiums, malls, and the apples and bananas in the bowl on the kitchen island…all have a shelf life before they deteriorate.

Some of us old folks remember watching Darryl Strawberry play at Smith-Wills for the Jackson Mets on his way to pro baseball greatness. Why not turn the property into community gardens & call them Strawberry Fields? Rick Cleveland did an excellent job of documenting Strawberry's time in Jackson, like he does with every subject he tackles.

Isn’t that park and the sports museum built on top of a former landfill? Good idk with the long term liability tater

If I were in Purgatory, I might be dragged to a stadium and forced to watch baseball.
But better than watching basketball indoors, which stinks like old sweat.

Hope it's made into a family friendly park with open fields for pickup games and picnics.

I've always thought a modest investment in the golf course and some upgrades to Smith-Wills could have made that area a little better. Everything seems to cost millions these days but I am talking about a little better upkeep of the course - better cut grass, work on the greens, etc... I played a lot of golf there and I could tell a little weed-eating coupled with some chemicals could have really helped.

The baseball field could have been upgraded modestly and maybe even pulled in a single-a team. Add in the natural science and kids museum plus the state park's camping and fishing, and you have a small pocket of entertainment without breaking the bank.

@6:10 - You are either forgetting or unaware that the majority of the population of the city is totally disinterested in those sorts of things. Not to mention, all of your suggestions are, according to Chokwe, racist.

"I saw NSync perform there in concert around 2001. Crazy times."

I'm pretty sure they played in the football stadium across the street from UMMC. One of the group is from around Jackson, so he had them end their tour with a hometown show here.

"Isn't it built on top of an old landfill or some other terrain that makes it unsuitable for any substantial structure?"

20 years ago when I took my kids there a few times each summer we eventually noticed the seams between the sheets of Astroturf in left field were starting to separate. We finally saw a white semicircle poking up through the Astroturf. After a game we walked out there to see what it was. We pulled up an intact coffee mug from a some 1970s Jackson political campaign that had ended its life in a landfill or dump before becoming part of left field.

"I'm just an old softie. Hate to see Smith Wills taken down. Lots of good memories."
May 14, 2024 at 1:14 PM

I know what you're saying 1:14.

But it's time to live on our memories.
That's all we have,

( The Zoo, the classic Greek restaurants, SEC football weekends at the stadium, usually Ole Miss-LSU in the afternoon and and State-Bama that night.)

The smell of warm fresh popcorn and roasted peanuts at the North State Street Sears ... and too many other memories to mention.

But I'll stop with the Sears popcorn.

I remember when the kids from Prep would go "parking" at Smith Wills.

And I'm not talking about cars.

Nickel beer night, hahaha. Remember the drive-thru beer establishment on the eastbound side of Lakeland in that same vicinity? Talk about what were they thinking, you could practically get a keg of ice cold beer to go and hell they’d even ice it down for you.

9:24 remember the Ole Miss-State game when that gust of wind came out of nowhere to stall State’s go ahead field goal attempt and secure the OM victory?

Jackson was srsly rocking back in the day, and I’m talking late 70s, early 80s. Come lunchtime, downtown would be humming with knee deep waiting lines at the Mayflower and the Elite. You’d pop in Jitney 14 three times a day to see and be seen while grabbing a bite. I too could go on and on but it’s too early early in the morning.

**NSYNC played at Memorial Stadium, not Smith Wills. They packed the house. I took my junior high kids and they loved it. Lance Bass grew up in Clinton and his mom is now in Brandon.

3:55, I think that was the Beer Barn. By the time it closed I was still a long way from being old enough to buy beer. Did manage to have Louisiana hold out on 18 until just after I turned 21. So there were a lot of trips to Daiquiri World and whatever those gas stations were called at the time - only one of them and an “adult” store left now.

On a vaguely related note, was at a friend’s house in HS and his parents and their neighbors, who had all been friends since HS or maybe early college, were a little tipsy. Turned out that my friend’s dad had somehow secured a keg delivery job on weekends for Capital City Beverage or similar while they were in college. He knew where alllll the parties were happening on Saturday night. Did it for four years, graduated, and nominated someone’s younger brother who had just turned 18 and was going to go to Millsaps for the job.

No posts about Cowboy Maloney allowed. Apparently.

2:31, that was a different stadium - the stadium on State Street. It was a great concert. ;)

Um no. Your comment insulted him when he had nothing to do with the post and took a sleazy shot at JSU as well. Neither Maloney nor JSU had anything to do with the post.

Regarding Belhaven needing a baseball stadium. The current scoreboard at Smith Wills is actually Belhaven's Scoreboard, replete with green and gold BELHAVEN BLAZERS signage. Why? because Belhaven had a lease for it's use that the city unceremoniously backed out of without warning.

we can all guess why...

Now, instead of returning ALL of Jackson's sales tax dollars so it can renovate public property and can again be self-supporting, the State wants to seize it. The State use any future revenues after renovation to benefit the Governor, legislature and cronies.

Please take the new "medical drive" off Airport Rd to see how your tax dollars are being spent. Tour Hattiesburg by car. So very nice for so few residents.

You may see another car or two on the smoothest and most pristine four lane roads in all of Mississippi.

Now drive the high traffic roads in Jackson which is still MS's largest city by more that twice the population of Gulfport with is second.

And, I am not impressed by the EPA ruling that "Jackson didn't ask". Unlike in the past, Jackson isn't notified by the State agency or Governor's office that a federal grant might be available. It didn't need to hire people who can write requests for grants. The State helped. The offices of our elected officials in DC helped (both parties).

Indeed, long ago they helped two neighborhoods in Madison County get a large federal grant for city water and sewer. If the locals didn't know what funds were available or how to best apply for the money, no problem, everyone who did know in the Stated pitched in to help.

Our State and all but one of our US elected representatives is working AGAINST Mississippi's Capitol city (unless it's the part the State has already grabbed). Jackson didn't mind helping out in those days before the US/THEM crazies controlled politics!

And, it has NOT escaped women old enough and who have friends who've been through childbearing or involved in caretaking and women watching churches and families ripped apart by politics which party is the embarrassing/hostile relative at the table! We know which party won't let US petition or vote in referendums on issues that affect our lives.

We remember and we are doing our best to make sure our sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters know that real men are gentlemen (a thick wallet isn't needed) and don't tell lies or bully or demean or holler or cheat or seek an advantage. They are smart enough to examine consequences rather than rely on immediate gratification and know money really doesn't "buy you love".

Is there enough space to put the zoo there? 🤔

@8:57 ??????? That was a lot

How long before the mayor starts saying the State is trying to take over that run down dump stadium

Makes sense. It's a great location but the stadium is extremely old and not needed anymore. If anyone in Jackson needs to use a larger baseball empty baseball stadium, the taxpayers of Pearl graciously created a much nicer one.

I saw my first baseball game there- the Jackson Mets.

Can we send all the bums there to live that roam that 55 Lakeland area? Like a zoo, charge a small fee to go see the city with soul’s finest. Come out and see the massively overweight ones that hold signs saying homeless and HUNGRY.

Make Smith wills the Zoo

8:57….zeesh.

It is not the state’s or fed’s job to chase Jackson to take federal money. No one even trusts Jackson to manage it effectively or properly. Surrounding communities hire competent lobbying & engineering firms who track federal monies and assist in the grant writing and lobbying efforts. Jackson can’t even pay employees or contractors in a timely manner. I can assure you that there are firms that would love to have the work, but won’t deal with Jackson’s so called “leadership”

Jackson takes in far more sales tax dollars than any other city in the state and the community gets far less in return for those dollars than any other population base. Hell, private citizens are patching their own streets & cleaning up the I-55 corridor in NE Jackson. Please, see the previous paragraph regarding Jackson leadership. When the city cannot deliver basic services or deal with crime, the tax base leaves for communities that can.

Yep. Belhaven had a nice lease there and kept it in good shape. Bought a new scoreboard and all. The city suddenly just ended the lease, kept the improvements and scoreboard and kicked Belhaven out and painted it like a circus tent.

The reason Belhaven had not built a baseball facility is that they had a great deal at Smith-Wills. They took their old baseball stadium on Riverside Drive and converted it to a really nice softball facility.

A likewise bad decision was made when Belhaven attempted to purchase Newell Field, upgrade the stands and lighting, add locker rooms and a video board, and put a track around the field. Jackson said no and Belhaven built a new stadium on campus and a new track. Now Newell Field is condemned and an eyesore.

Guess this is the end of Churchills Smoke Shop in Left Field. Didn't Have a problem when left field lounge was there. White hangout ok and Churchills which is favored by Many a Jacksonian who happen to be majority black it's a problem. And for for the record I am a 42 year old white guy from Madison making this claim. I am all for improving things but at he cost of a local business.

2:58 WTF are you saying? Code perhaps? Drinking? You make NO sense. Interpret please.

2:58 day drinking

Me thinks "The Hat" has something to do with this and it's proximity to the Ag Museum....

Low IQ residents in Jackson will always see the City failures as racist. They simply dont have the intellect to see that race had nothing to do with the prosperous years. It was directly related to effective leaders who kept the city safe enough to grow the tax base. Those same leaders used the coffers to maintain the city.

The current racist leaders are idiots. But poorly educated voters are too dumb to see that.
So it must be the State/the white man's fault.

Can we tear down Smith Wills and expand the Ag museum now???