Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/3108
nationally syndicated radio program that debuted in 2000. There is plenty of live entertainment on tap at the Island View, which also has 83,000 sq. ft. of gaming and three restaurants. Options for outdoor recreation include teeing off at one of more than 20 championship golf courses in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area, checking out the races at Gulf Coast Motor Sports Park, attending a sports event or con- cert at the Harrison County Fairgrounds, chartering a boat for some deep-sea fishing, splashing around at Gulf Islands Water Park, and taking a ferry to Ship Island for some swim- ming, beach walking and dolphin watching. Indoor diver- sions include touring the CEC & Seabee Memorial Museum, browsing local art galleries, enjoying one of the Arts Under the Dome concerts presented at downtown's First United Methodist Church, and getting in some shop- ping therapy at Prime Outlets, the Crossroads Mall or the Hardy Court Shopping Center. Lighthouse Park, whose centerpiece is a custom- designed fountain, commemorates the Gulf Coast experi- ence of Hurricane Katrina and celebrates the region's recovery. A similar tribute is carried out through the art and photos in the Hurricane Katrina Exhibit in the Hancock Park Building. JACKSON Large groups meeting in Mississippi's capital city might access the accommodations at the Jackson Convention Complex, which now includes the 246,000- sq. ft. Convention Center with a 30,000-sq. ft. banquet hall, a 60,000-sq. ft. exhibit hall and a 33,000-sq. ft. reg- istration lobby. The new convention center is located next to the 74,000-sq. ft. Mississippi TelCom Center. There are 5,500 guestrooms citywide. Once the hub of Black business and culture in Jackson, the Farish Street Historical District is the site of Ace Records, the Alamo Theater, Farish Street Baptist Church, the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center and Birdland the live music venue where Ellington, Hampton, Armstrong and other jazz legends performed when it was known as the Crystal Palace Night Club. The Trumpet Records studio on Farish Street is part of the Mississippi Blues Trail, which has another trail marker at the Summers Hotel, which years ago housed the legendary Subway Lounge in its basement. The historic blues, R&B and gospel music company Malaco records offers tours, and there is more music to explore at the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in Jackson/Evers International Airport. Jackson's Old Capitol Museum houses the first perma- nent Civil Rights exhibit in America. The city's list of Black cultural and historical attractions continues with the Medgar Evers Home Museum, the Margaret Walker Alexander National African-American Research Center, Jackson State University and Tougaloo College, whose cam- pus includes the Woodworth Chapel and the Boddie Mansion, one of the few homes in Jackson to survive the Civil War. Other major cultural and historical attractions include the Eudora Welty House Museum, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Jackson Municipal Art Gallery, the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science and the Mississippi Children's Museum, which has a new $24 million, 40,000-sq. ft. home under con- struction in Lefleur's Bluff State. NATCHEZ The Natchez Convention Center Complex takes up an entire block in the city's historic district, providing 23,000 sq. ft. of divisible function space on the first floor of the Convention Center and 6,670 sq. ft. on the second floor, including three meeting rooms with balconies overlooking Main Street. The old post office on Main Street houses the NAPAC Museum, established by the Natchez Association for the Exhibit of a Sharecroppers Cabin, Forestry Museum Photo Credit: Jackson CVB Mississippi River Ballon Race Photo Credit: Natchez CVB Black Meetings & Tourism April/May 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 92