Editor’s note: The following story published in Wednesday’s paper, incorrectly stated the status of the Forks of the Road site acquired by the city. The city intends to donate the site to the National Park Service. Legislation from the U.S. Congress is required before the National Park Service can accept land from the city. The story is corrected below. We regret the error and are happy to set the record straight. 

NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez has planned four ribbon-cutting ceremonies this week to celebrate the completion of major projects.

A ribbon cutting at the Toll Plaza Colonnades will be 10 a.m. Thursday.

A ceremony celebrating the completion of the exterior of the Mississippi Valley Railroad Depot will be 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

A ribbon cutting for the recently completed St. Catherine Street Trails will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the Angelety House, located at 108 St. Catherine St.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Bridge of Sighs will be 1:30 p.m. Friday on the bluff.

Natchez Mayor Butch Brown said the four ceremonies would provide him and the city the opportunity to thank the organizations and government entities that provided the funds for the projects.

“We’re proud to thank the people and we’re proud to have the inventory and that’s why we’re having a ribbon cutting,” he said.

Brown, the City of Natchez, Southern Transportation Commissioner Tom King, representatives of the Mississippi Transportation Commission and U.S. Federal Highway Administration and Mississippi Division Administrator Andy Hughes are named hosts of all four ceremonies.

The Bridge of Sighs ribbon cutting ceremony is additionally hosted by Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks Executive Director Sam Polles, Magnolia Bluffs Casino and the Natchez Community Alliance.

“We’re real proud of what we’ve been able to do,” Brown said. “These just came together simultaneously.”

The final inspections on all four projects were completed recently, Brown said.

The historic Colonnades on Canal Street near the Natchez Visitor Center were in a state of disrepair, he said, until the city received grants from MDOT and the Mississippi Development Authority to renovate the site. The renovations also included landscaping work to the surrounding grounds.

“The colonnades were literally falling down,” Brown said. “We took it back all the way to the bones and rebuilt it, and it was quite a challenge.”

Though the interior of the historic depot building on Broadway Street has not been completely renovated, the city’s MDOT-funded renovation of the exterior is complete, Brown said.

“The depot project is a signature project that has been long (worked on,)” Brown said. “There are no other funds coming to that project from the state and from the list of funders we have for the depot. The balance of that project will be paid for by someone, whether it be (New Orleans Hotelier Warren Reuther) or someone that comes in and joins with him or wants to buy him out.”

Reuther began a renovation of the depot last year under an agreement with the city, but controversy concerning how the project was awarded has halted construction.

Brown said the city is currently accepting alternative bids, and he expects construction on the depot’s interior to continue soon.

“The building itself is a magnificent piece of architecture and part of the history of our city, and we’re pleased we had the chance to go back and do it in this administration and get it done,” Brown said.

“We’re very proud to have that trail through two or three different neighborhoods along St. Catherine Street, and at the same time have it tied into the Forks of the Road.”

Brown said the city’s efforts to acquire the historic Forks of the Road, the former site of a large slave market, are also to be celebrated. The city intends to donate the site to the National Park Service.

The Bridge of Sighs, which spans Roth Hill Road to connect the bluff park, has been open to pedestrian traffic for several months, Brown said, and the landscaping around the bridge was done shortly after.

Though MDOT provided the bulk of the funds for the bridge, Brown said, several other entities will be recognized for their contributions to the project.

The completion of several other projects cannot be celebrated yet, Brown said, but he expects a complete renovation of Auburn Antebellum Home and the construction of Duncan Park Tennis Center to be completed after the end of his administration.

“(The other projects) are long overdue, but those are in the works and will be completed shortly,” Brown said. “This board has been very prudent in helping to step forward and make all these improvements. It’s been very good for the city.”