NATCHEZ — The Natchez Visitor Reception Center is about to begin the first phase of its exhibit face lift.

For several years, the National Park Service has been putting together a plan to update the exhibits that have been at the visitor’s center since its opening 10 years ago.

Natchez National Historical Park Superintendent Kathleen Jenkins said tear down of the existing exhibits will begin this week.

Interactive and comprehensive exhibits will be installed, she said.

The scrolling panorama depiction of the French and Indian battle in Natchez is coming down.

The panorama will be moved to NPS-owned Fort Rosalie and incorporated into the visitor’s center that has not yet been established.

In its place will be a “monumental timeline of Natchez history,” Jenkins said.

The timeline will begin with the Natchez Indians and move all the way up to present day.

Also, the existing narrative from local interviews that is played on loop at the visitor’s center will be incorporated into the new timeline exhibit.

“In different places, visitors can pick up a telephone and hear a story that relates to part of the timeline,” Jenkins said.

In the middle of the visitor’s center, a loop of music will be played that outlines the history of Natchez music beginning with Indian chants all the way to “Natchez Burning,” a song by Howlin’ Wolf about the Rhythm Night Club fire.

Another wall will feature an exhibit about Natchez writers, from Richard Wright to Greg Iles.

Added to the current pilot house is, a history of cotton which will include different fabrics made with cotton, Jenkins said.

The pilot house will also include a more comprehensive outline of the types of boats that have historically traveled the Mississippi River.

Another new item will be an interactive exhibit for children, which Jenkins said is a game.

In the game children will learn what it was like to travel down the Mississippi River and up the Natchez Trace.

Inside the bookstore, one wall will be devoted to the NPS and its local services — the William Johnson House, Melrose, the Natchez Trace Parkway and Fort Rosalie.

Other existing exhibits will be incorporated in the new display.

Jenkins said only one panel will not be re-used and it’s city owned, so it’s the city’s discretion on where it be used.

Once the former exhibits are removed, minor repairs will take place.

The new exhibits will start going up June 15, and once they are up Jenkins said NPS will have a soft opening of the new exhibitory.

A grand opening will take place in October during the Historic Natchez Conference.

But the work is never done, Jenkins said.

“As soon as you put something on the wall it’s automatically dated,” she said.

Ideas to update and keep the exhibits current and fresh are always rolling, Jenkins said.

“It’s always a work in progress,” she said.

The visitors center facelift is coming from internal NPS funds totaling approximately $250,000, Jenkins said.

And it is more than just a facelift. It’s encompassing the mission statement of the Natchez National Historical Park, which is to comprehensively tell the story of all people of Natchez, she said.

Jenkins said the new exhibitory will be the closest fulfillment of the mission statement yet.