Duane O'Neill, executive director of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, and Primus Wheeler, executive director of the Jackson Medical Mall, address questions regarding the development of the Mississippi Healthcare Corridor project during a Tuesday news conference. / Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger
The proposed project would start at I-55 and Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Jackson and stretch to I-220, including property where Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium and the old farmers market are located. / Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger
But the city's business and political leaders envision a five-mile stretch of road as a medical research and services hub that can serve the entire Southeast.
They unveiled plans Tuesday for the Mississippi Healthcare Corridor, which would stretch along Woodrow Wilson Avenue from I-55 to I-220.
"We can truly do great things with this stretch of road," said Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. "This medical corridor will transform the city of Jackson."
Details, including the projected cost, economic impact and the number of new jobs the corridor would create, haven't been determined, and no timetable for the redevelopment project was given.
But the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership has assembled a steering committee that will represent dozens of businesses, including all of Jackson's major hospitals, as well as community groups, economic development organizations and governmental entities.
That panel is to come up with a master plan for redeveloping Woodrow Wilson. Primus Wheeler, executive director of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, says a report on how to do that should be finished in six months.
Separate consultants have been engaged by the chamber to determine the project's cost and economic impact.
The chamber's trip to Nashville last year spotlighted the opportunities for the Jackson area. Although renowned for music, Nashville's medical community is a $30 billion industry that accounts for 210,000 jobs from physicians and researchers to pharmaceutical and billing businesses and manufacturers of medical devices.
Proponents say Jackson's corridor also would be designed to attract "new hotels, new shops, restaurants" and perhaps a golf course to an area badly needing such amenities, Wheeler said.
Duane O'Neill, executive director of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, said funding would come from entities represented by the steering committee.
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