WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Mayor Says Gulfport Harbor Plans Moving Forward

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Mayor Says Gulfport Harbor Plans Moving Forward: "Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr considers the harbor redevelopment project as the 'economic match head' for the city of Gulfport. But in order to spark new development, it's going to take a lot of hard work, time, and money.

As Jones Park sits barren more than a year after Katrina, plans are in motion to transform it into a thriving park complete with an amphitheater, fountain, and green walkways.

Mayor Warr says, 'What we've created is a park where you're no longer using the finest and the largest park on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a parking lot.'

Instead, a new space off a broadened 20th Avenue will provide twice as much parking for the small craft harbor as before. Adjacent to the parking, would be a Fisherman's Village, which the mayor says would be a lease space for restaurants and shops.

Warr knows the big question on many minds is, where's the money coming from? He's says he's concerned about that, too.

'We've put up some up front money - about $3.1 million, which is a lot of money - but it's not enough to finish the projects. So we are going to be asking and pleading with the government to help us with the community block grant money that's coming down.'"