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“I don’t see the advantage of being anywhere else,” he said. “Traffic is still heavy and it’s bringing business.”
But Sheffield, like other business owners and residents along the well-traveled route, would like to see the area flourish again.
And an effort is under way to form a group whose main purpose will be to actively promote and market the area.
Getting the ball rolling is Ward 3 City Councilman Jim Newell, who is putting together a South Gloster Business Association.
“I just wanted to get this thing started, and then eventually get others involved to take over,” he said. “But it’s a very important issue.”
More than 100 people attended a meeting Feb. 27 led by Newell at Gloster Creek Village to talk about issues and opportunities on South Gloster. Newell also distributed surveys at the gathering.
“We had 88 businesses who were represented, and that really stands out to me,” he said.
Newell said common elements emerged through the surveys.
“What stood out was that, No. 1, they want the area to look more attractive. They want more landscaping, more trees,” he said. “No. 2, signage. For example, they’d like to see something done about the businesses that are no longer in business and to clean up those old signs.”
Those two were deemed immediate needs. Long-term needs were infrastructure improvements, particularly the quality of the road itself.
And Sheffield, owner of Tupelo Auto Sales, said that’s his major gripe.
“There are holes in the road like a demolition team drove over it,” he said.
At the Feb. 27 meeting, one of the major complaints was quality – or lack thereof – of major portions of South Gloster.
The Major Thoroughfare Program will eventually five-lane the stretch from Garfield to Green, but that’s at least two years off. Work on the Highway 6 portion connecting to South Gloster also is in the early stages.
Those two projects will bring traffic to the area and are expected to open opportunities for retailers and restaurants.
But Sheffield, and many others, say road repairs need to be done now.
“The last few years, I think we’ve been neglected,” he said.
Build it – and repair it – and they will come, South Gloster residents and businesses say.
Repurposing old mall
The viability of South Gloster, some say, can be seen on the other end of the road, closer to Crosstown.
Gloster Creek Village is situated near the “head” of South Gloster between the busy Crosstown intersection and North Mississippi Medical Center.
Its early retail-mall days ended in the late 1980s with the convergence of two significant developments – the city’s partial five-laning of Gloster, which took years, and the advent of The Mall at Barnes Crossing, which attracted anchor stores from Tupelo’s mid- and downtown.
But a business group saw its potential and took it over in 1994, converting the 250,000 square feet facility on some 20 acres into multi-purpose professional office and retail space.
“We’re about 75 percent occupied,” said Len Pegues, who runs the partnership. “It took a while, and we spent the first couple of years bringing the property back.”
He’s optimistic about Gloster Creek’s future, saying that while the country’s economic slowdown has put some prospects on hold, he sees a few expansions on the drawing table now and more tenants when the business climate improves.
Tupelo’s viability as a regional center for commercial and residential growth is one reason, he said.
He’s also strongly supportive of street improvements on the far south end of Gloster – where Sheffield and several other auto dealers do business – even though it’s miles away from his immediate focus.
Amd he agrees that it makes little sense to wait for Highway 6’s completion. Rather, he thinks the upgrades should occur so South Gloster growth and improvements anticipate the 2013 highway opening.
He credits Gloster Creek’s success to the viability of its neighborhood sandwiched between an active Crosstown and NMMC, the nation’s largest rural hospital.
Gloster Creek
Gloster Creek is home to numerous medical offices and related retail businesses, an evolution from the days when Sears and McRae’s brought in the foot traffic.
He also says he’s ready to get involved with the South Gloster Business Association to provide leadership in making improvements and protecting the corridor’s future.
Pegues expects the group to get more organized in the next week or so.
Newell said he plans to meet with “four or five” people and then meet with Mayor Jack Reed Jr., who said he was amenable to creating a South Gloster task force.
“We’re all tied together,” Pegues said. “If the far south part of the street gets run down, that’s a big negative for everybody.”
For the city’s success, every one of its neighborhoods must be vibrant, Pegues said.
Said Reed at Newell’s meeting, “One of my goals is having every part of town be a good part of town.”
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