JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
A group of investors are renovating the building and have plans to make it bigger and better than ever before.
Joseph Simpson has a vision for the building that is crumbling from the outside and looks destroyed on the inside.
"It's wood flooring, a lot of...the smokehouse doors that are inside, like from the original 1906 armor smokehouse I mean they are there. Actually, the piano has survived two fires that's in there, which is incredible. So, there's so much history and that's what makes the project so rich to us," Simpson said.
The Iron Horse Grill has caught fire twice and virtually abandoned for nearly a decade.
Simpson says a group of investors are spending $6.5 million to restore the downtown Jackson Landmark, while keeping much of the exposed brick and timbers. He believes the restoration project has the perfect back drop, with the train tracks nearby and in the shadows of other famous buildings.
"We believe that downtown is the core, period, of the Capital City and the state for that matter, and you've got to keep it healthy. And if the businesses are thriving and we're having a real healthy downtown, that's gonna make all of the metro Jackson area better," Simpson added.
Playing off the state's history, plans call for a restaurant, a Mississippi Music Hall of Fame Museum, and a store for the Mississippi Blues and Country Trails.
"If we want to be part of this revitalization in downtown, then what better place than one of its most historic landmarks and we've been successful in the restaurant business with two of our other restaurants, so we feel like we can do it here as well," Simpson said.
Simpson says the Iron Horse should be up and rolling in nine months.
A groundbreaking is scheduled for December 10th
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