The Jimmie Rodgers Museum in Meridian will soon have a new home, thanks to a lease agreement between the city and the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation.

The Meridian City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution authorizing the lease of the Meridian Railroad Museum building to JRF, allowing the two museums to combine to become the Jimmie Rodgers Railroad and Music Museum.

The railroad museum, located at 1805 Front St., is open to the public only on certain days during the year.

Once combined, the new museum will be open to the public on a regular basis, said Archie McDonnell, CEO of Citizens National Bank — one of JRF’s community partners.

McDonnell said the goal is to have the new museum up and running by spring 2018, just in time for the opening of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience (The Max).

“We’re really excited about it and what it can do for Meridian and the legacy of Jimmie Rodgers,” McDonnell said. “We hope that when all the tourists come to visit The Max, they will be able to go down the street and visit the museum… We hope to work with The Max in different ways.”

According to Jo Ann Clark, Meridian’s clerk of council, the city will lease the building to the foundation for $10 per year for four years. After the lease expires, the foundation will have the option to renew.

Earlier this summer, JRF elected Ed Snodgrass as president, and deciding to relocate the museum from its current location in Highland Park was one of his priorities.

Snodgrass said in a previous report that a different approach was needed when he succeeded former president Betty Lou Jones. Snodgrass is the great-grandson of Elsie McWilliams, the sister-in-law of Jimmie Rodgers who helped write many of his songs.

“It wasn’t so much an ambition as it was a willingness to work,” Snodgrass said. “I am particularly interested in the museum and the artifacts and the experience visitors have… It’s going to take a lot more than me… We really need to open our doors and minds to alternative ideas that will really bring this to the next level.”

In a news release announcing Snodgrass’ election as president, he said the Rodgers legacy “deserves a state-of-the art museum. As it is, the Jimmie Rodgers Museum is a wonderful, ‘must-see’ destination for many people yearly. However, we can make it better. I hope to facilitate an expansion of the number and quality of artifacts in the collection and develop more interactive and dynamic exhibits, with programming around various themes throughout the year…”