Alley project almost done with underground phase

Published 11:39 am Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Gravel is laid down in the alley between Weidmann’s Restaurant and the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation offices as workers begin setting forms to pour concrete later this week. Photo by Thomas Howard

An alley beautification project in downtown Meridian is almost done with underground work and will begin above-ground improvements in the near future.

Meridian Main Street Director Matt Schanrock, who is heading up the project, said Monday the contractor has laid down gravel and begun setting up concrete forms in the alley and will hopefully begin pouring concrete by the end of the week or early next week.

“And then we’ll just start making it look pretty in the next couple months,” he said. “So we’re getting there.”

The alley project, which is located between Weidmann’s Restaurant and the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation offices on 22nd Avenue, will transform a downtown eyesore into a multi-purpose space for events and pedestrian access between 22nd and Constitution avenues.

In July 2024, the Meridian City Council appropriated $800,000 to do the necessary underground work, including installing storm drainage, upgrading water and sewer lines and relocating utilities. Meridian Main Street received a state appropriation of $200,000 and some federal funds from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to tackle above-ground improvements, for a total of about $450,000.

Meridian Public Works and Engineering Plus have also been involved in bringing the project to fruition.

Schanrock said everyone involved in the project has been helpful and worked together to deal with issues as they’ve come up. The project is looking good, he said, and he’s looking forward to getting started with Main Street’s portion of the work.

In other news, the Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant is back in front of the State Legislature for funding, and Meridian could see another long-awaited project knocked out if all works out. Schanrock said Meridian’s application has already been approved, but the work has been waiting for funding.

“We’re one of 18 communities that have been approved for our project, which is the string lights on Fifth Street that we’ve been talking about for three years,” he said. “If they can finally figure out a way to fund that through MDA (Mississippi Development Authority, hopefully we’ll start some string lights this year.”