Merrehope open house set for Sunday
Published 4:15 pm Tuesday, August 22, 2023
- Meridian Restorations Foundation board members and volunteers, from left, Donna Owen, Fonda Rush, Karen Justice, Kim Waters and Albree Florey, turn out to support Ed Abdella on his July bike ride around Mississippi, which raised more than $10,000 for Merrehope’s roof replacement project.
Anyone interested in historic preservation or who has fond memories of Merrehope is invited to attend the Friends of Merrehope Open House and Annual Meeting on Sunday.
The annual meeting, conducted by the Meridian Restorations Foundation Inc., will be held at 2 p.m. at the historic home followed by an open house reception.
“Everyone is invited to the open house,” said Foundation President Kim Waters. “We are so excited to share a little about this past year at Merrehope, and the exciting plans for her future. We are so thankful for the many volunteers and donors who have stepped up to keep the doors open to this Meridian treasure.”
Merrehope, originally built as a Greek Revival cottage in 1859, survived Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s burning of the Queen City during the Civil War. After changing hands multiple times over the next century, the Meridian Restorations Foundation was formed by members of the nine Federated Women’s Clubs of Meridian to purchase and restore the home.
During Sunday’s annual meeting, Waters will give a report on the many activities held throughout the past year at the historic home and the progress being made in restoration efforts, including current efforts to replace Merrehope’s roof, as well as upcoming events planned for the rest of the year.
In January, it was announced Merrehope had received a more than $300,000 Community Heritage Preservation Grant awarded by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to help with the roof replacement. The foundation also has been running a Merrehope “Raise the Roof” capital campaign to help with the project, which got a big boost in July when Meridian cyclist Ed Abdella made history by becoming the first to cycle around the perimeter of the state. Abdella’s Bike Around Mississippi ride, which covered 1,161 miles over four days, raised more than $10,000 for the “Raise the Roof” campaign.
“The state Department of Archives grant and the Raise the Roof campaign will help us complete the long-needed project to replace Merrehope’s roof,” Waters said. “We’ve made repairs over the years to fix leaks in the roof, but now instead of just putting on Band-Aids, we have the funds to correct the problem.”
Because Merrehope is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and as a Mississippi Landmark, there are numerous guidelines the foundation must follow in having a new roof put on the house. At the meeting, she plans to give a timeline on how the renovation will progress.
Waters said the Meridian Restorations Foundation truly appreciates how the entire community has come together in support of Merrehope’s activities and programs.
Merrehope is located at 905 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Meridian.