{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/garrards-vision-helping-shape-jacksons-future", "Garrard\u2019s vision helping shape Jackson\u2019s future", "2026-08-29", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "Senate", "MS", "Cindy Hyde-Smith", "H001079", "www.hydesmith.senate.gov", "hydesmith", "https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/newsroom", "scraper", "By Bill Crawford, Contributing columnist\n\nA unique urban park in Jackson seeks to become of one of the state\u2019s premier cultural destinations. Encompassing four distinct museums and featuring playgrounds, sports venues, walking and biking trails, family-friendly gathering spaces, and improved access to the Pearl River, the Lefleur Museum District is the mission of the Lefleur\u2019s Bluff Conservancy chaired by Mississippi Children\u2019s Museum founder and Jackson visionary Susan Garrard.\n\n\u201cThis master plan really was born of the desire from the Children's Museum to replace the Lefleur\u2019s Bluff playground,\u201d Garrard modestly told the Rotary Club of North Jackson. Already having created one of the nation\u2019s top children\u2019s museums, she had a much bigger dream.\n\nIn 2021, the Children\u2019s Museum was one of six recipients awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation\u2019s highest honor for museums and libraries that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. \u201cWe were the youngest museum in the nation,\u201d Garrard said.\n\n\u201cWe were really excited about our medal,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd we decided that we really, really, really wanted our surroundings here in Jackson to reflect kind of our award-winning ways.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do other cities do that?\u201d she remembered asking. \u201cOther cities do that through conservancies,\u201d she found out. So, she led the formation of the first conservancy in Mississippi, the LeFleur\u2019s Bluff Conservancy, leased 104 acres from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and got $13 million from the state legislature to, uh, enhance the \u201csurroundings\u201d of the Children\u2019s Museum.\n\nThe enhancements include: $1.8 million from the Capitol Complex Improvement District to revamp Museum Boulevard which runs beside I-55; a 30,000 square foot state of the art playground funded by a $3.86 million grant from the Blue Cross & Blue Shield Mississippi Foundation; new entrances to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, the Children\u2019s Museum, and the new playground complex; and extension of the Museum Trail along and through LeFleur\u2019s Bluff.\n\nStill to come are a tournament level disc golf course designed by world champion disc golfer Avery Jenkins; a 10-hole youth walking golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones that will be home to First Tee of Mississippi; lighting for nighttime play; botanical gardens; a fitness park; ball field enhancements; pickle ball courts; and future expansions of the Children\u2019s Museum and the Natural Science Museum.\n\nOn Aug. 19, ground broke for a pedestrian and biking bridge over Lakeland Drive to connect the park to Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Sen. Cindy-Hyde Smith obtained $7 million in federal funding for this project.\n\nOh, Garrard also founded the Great City Mississippi Foundation to improve the rest of Jackson around the Children\u2019s Museum.\n\n\u201cLet us not become weary in doing good\u201d \u2013 Galatians 6:9.", 1, "2026-09-09T09:27:09Z", "2026-09-09T09:29:04Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/garrards-vision-helping-shape-jacksons-future"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5562539920210838, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}