The old Sun-N-Sand building made the list of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historical Places for 2020." The list is created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. NTHP states on its website:
A Midcentury Modern building in the heart of downtown Jackson near the State Capitol, the Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel was once the home away from home for Mississippi legislators as well as a gathering place for civil rights activists—most notably the multi-racial, women-led initiative “Wednesdays in Mississippi.”
The building, which features metal screens, large expanses of glass, and a colorful sign, has sat vacant and deteriorating for nearly two decades. The State of Mississippi purchased the Sun-n-Sand in 2019 and plans to demolish it for a parking lot, but preservationists are advocating for reuse, emphasizing the economic benefits of rehabilitation. Website.
Good luck. There is a reason no one wants to purchase the building.
First up is the legendary Sun-n-Sand. The favorite place for horse-trading in the after hours when the legislature was in session. If only the walls could talk or even whisper, oh the stories they could tell.
The hotel's 2001 closing was lamented by many.
43 comments:
It was a great place to pick up older women.
The "preserve everything" people need to put their money where their mouth is. It would be a travesty to issue state bonds to preserve this hunk of junk, and nobody in the private sector in their right mind would put a dime in it.
Economic benefits???? Anyone who thinks that run down building in the ghetto has any value has obviously never been down there
Our "shrink the government" state Republican leadership has acquired more land and built more buildings downtown over the last 20 years than the democrats did over the last 150 years. Sun and Sand, the funeral home, the new Supreme Court building, the DOT monstrosity, and several others, and yet we still can't house DOR in the capital city and we have several other departments who have moved to the burbs.
That newspaper makes me seriously nostalgic for 2002.
On the way to work this morning, I drove past it and thought "what an eyesore!"
Bulldoze it.......take it back to green space.
I remember it very well and did a load business there. Nothing that special worth spending millions of public money on a run down building in a run down town
They should buy it with the funds from the booming Farish St. Entertainment District funds. They have to have some left over, don they?
Always wondered about the "Sand" part of Sun N Sand. Did a little reading and learned the hotel had a Polynesian theme. Also learned about "googie" architecture.
I had no idea Brenda Scott considered the Sun-N-Sand nostalgic during it's last years.
That fact alone speak's volumes . . . that even by 2002 . . . this motel was not what it once had been.
That building needs to be razed and a new building erected so more business can come to Jackson.
I have never understood why a cheap motel built in the 50's is a national treasure. It has no architectural value, it's ugly, and has enough asbestos to kill 1000 people with cancer. Just let the state tear it down.
" so more business can come to Jackson".
Sorry 3:44 PM.
I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.
2:43 - you make a good argument EXCEPT for you blaming it on our "republican leadership". The requirements of purchasing and/or leasing most of these building lies on the shoulders of State Senator DAVID BLOUNT (D-Hinds). Granted, why the hell Delbert Hosemann (???-Hinds) named him chairman of the public property committee is in question, except that we all know Delbert is not a Republican at heart, but a big government narcissist.
It was David Blount who put the requirements in to purchase the funeral home -that has no historic value - and added the requirement that the MS Dept Archives and History (of course which is run by his wife, Katie Blount) that they have to approve any changes to the building -- ignoring the fact that this is not anything that should be under the control, influence or anything else of the MDAH. He is also behind the purchasing of every building he can find downtown that is empty, thus helping his 'business' of real estate to take empty office space off the market.
To preserve the S&S is ridiculous. To finally purchase rather than continuing leasing the parking spaces was probably a financially good deal, if you accept the fact that the state should be in the business of providing parking spaces for all its employees. (The federal government doesn't do that for its employees at the McCoy Federal Building - they get to rent spaces wherever they can find them.) For some reason the state thinks this is a perk that should be paid for by the state while leaving the private citizen up to themselves to find somewhere to park while trying to 'visit' with its government being in the Woolfolk, Sillers, or State Capitol -- where all the available spaces are taken up by the elected officials or staff that are receiving their bi-weekly checks.
All those that were moaning and groaning over the S&S a few months ago were claiming that there were several - dozens even - that wanted the property to develop. They petitioned and got a six month period to make a proposal before this dilapidated building was razed. Of course, all those claims disappeared into thin air unless they were supported with massive state and federal subsidies. Why? Because there is no commercial value to this property as it exists.
And, despite all these claims, this is nothing but a late 1950's motel that happened to be built somewhere not along a state highway. The world is full of them - not necessarily with the same tails (sic) involved, but similar ones.
Primetime could buy it
This alone will revitalize downtown and may even bring tourists and convention visitors from around the world. It may also fix the streets, water meters, water, and crime problems overnight.
Woo hoo!
Fucking morons. Stupid is as stupid does.
Endangered? There are motels that rent by the hour all along I-55.
Keep the sign and make it a statue to the memory of the place. I think its a cool sign of the times back then. Tear the building down..I’m pretty sure there is no General Sun or Sand that fought in the Civil War.
Good grief....there are roaches in that place bigger than the eagle on the Capitol Building. Clear it out and move on.
Can we at least preserve the few remaining Stuckey's first ?
No doubt some legendary Legislative poolside drunk fiestas changed Mississippi History, but most of us "boomers" can relate to cheap souvenirs and pecan logs from any Stuckey's .
Stuckey's is well on the way back....outside of Jackson of course. Follow the grand daughter on Linked-In. Stuckey's is trending up.
Save the sign and put it in a museum somewhere. Demolish the the building and put in a city park.
Better to keep the S&S than Andrew....
I'm trying to remember - Are there any other whore-houses owned and preserved by the State Archives fellows?
And you people thought there was only ONE zoo in Jackson.
Strike a match.
The estimated final cost of the renovation of the Wright and Ferguson funeral home is over 11 million dollars. Talk about a waste of taxpayer dollars!
@8:17 PM - Yes, that would be the capitol building.
What is the sales price? Square footage? I’ll buy it!
Instead of spending tax money to renovate a building that will also cost taxpayers millions to maintain, get abstate university to 3D scan the entire structure, create a VR replica of it as it is today. And then recreate a virtual replica of the motel as it once was. Make the Virtual Sun and Sand free to the public. It will cost very little to maintain the virtual museum amd it will last forever as long as someone keeps a backup of the files.
Do the same thing with all of these places that they want to waste billions preserving.
Good comment @4:21.
Make it look smooth as a baby's butt just like the old Cabot Lodge on State St. now looks. Amazing how much that demolition changed the landscape.
"Make it look smooth as a baby's butt just like the old Cabot Lodge on State St. now looks. Amazing how much that demolition changed the landscape."
Very true.
However, ( back in the day ) that was a cool place to crash the pool after a few Keifer's mega mugs.
Plus, it was also a very good and clean bathroom spot for an unexpected "quick step response" to an emergency.
Seeing the iconic little Millsaps observatory was also a reassuring site when we were leaving our hometown of Jackson to return to our respective campus'.
Now one needs a tracked vehicle to drive down State Street.
I will not say anything about Riverside Drive.
Just about everyone old enough to have truly nostalgic feelings toward the S & S is dead.
They didn't save the Alamo...Not Even John Wayne could save it.
Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Carter (the married-couple managers, not the President and First Lady) held an open house of the Jackson location’s Alamo Plaza Gardens in 1968, to showcase the differently landscaped units (Clarion-Ledger, Aug. 25, 1968). Cannas, Jerusalem Plumbs, azaleas, amaryllis, iris, Touch-me-nots, rose bushes, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, tree ivy, and tiger lilies adorned the grounds. Behind the units were gardens of peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, onions, garlic, carrots, radishes, butterbeans, and black beans. The black beans were obtained from Mexico and were an item of interest to tourists as the beans grew up to 3 feet long.
The burgeoning motel business captured by Holiday Inn after the development of the Interstate highway system finally spelled the end of the Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, and the last new location opened in 1960. In 1979, the Jackson corporation dissolved ownership, although the motel continued to operate under the name until 1989 when it was ordered demolished after closure in 1988.
Thanks JJ...another article shown in the 2001 paper...The MBN may have to cut Agents & Offices
Don't confuse the nostalgia stoked by the sign with value of the property. Save the sign. City Park? What nonsense. Jackson needs another venue for recalcitrant lay-abouts?
5:27 I purchased a pecan log a few months ago at the Stuckeys in Hattiesburg. It evidently had been there quite a while, center was hard and pecans tasted stale. The place was remodeled a couple of years ago and it badly needed it. The bathrooms were filthy, after work was done and it reopened, it was very nice but now has reverted to the same old nasty place it was before. Whomever owns that franchise needs to take a long look at who is supposed to attend to the asthetics and make changes. I do not stop there any longer, Keith's is much nicer and employees at least acknowledge you spent money there.
Tear it down and build a parking garage for state employees. The number of parking lots in downtown is out of hand. They are only used during the day because nobody is downtown at night.
8:18 - You are obviously not a Southern Miss season ticket holder. That Stuckeys is a special piss stop for thousands on the way to the stadium. If you pulled in there 'to spend money', I just don't what to say. After all, what will you do with those Mississippi coasters and shot glasses? The Mexican quilts near the front door are real nice.
3:47, obviously you have not driven down State Street recently. No tracked vehicle necessary; in fact quite nice and comfy ride.
" They didn't save the Alamo...Not Even John Wayne could save it."
True.
I remember when the Alamo Plaza motel was sill a nice place.
( que Mary Hopkin's 1968 hit "Those were the days".
By1989, it was a different place.
Prostitution and drugs had taken over.
I'm glad it's gone.
I don't wish to remember the Alamo in that condition.
If a man had been smart enough to open a shoe-shine stand there fifty years ago, his book would have sold millions. A true entrepreneur, selling shoe-shines and condoms would have been genius.
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