MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – Today, Meridian celebrated the grand reopening of the Frank Cochran Center, a key community hub located in Highland Park. The center was heavily damaged by a fire in 2019, but after years of hard work and dedication, it has been fully renovated and is now ready to serve the public once again.
Local leaders, community members, and city officials gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking a significant milestone in the city’s efforts to revitalize its infrastructure.
“Every park in Meridian. We’ve done something to make those parks look better. We’ve paved roads in every park that we have. Outlined parking spaces at every park that we’ve had. We’ve done playgrounds, I mean, we’ve just focused on what we needed to focus on— making our parks better,” said Mayor Jimmie Smith, City of Meridian.
The renovated Frank Cochran Center is a cornerstone of those efforts. For Mayor Jimmie Smith, it’s part of a broader commitment to improving Meridian’s parks and public spaces.
“I think, we have got to make sure that we are making sure that our infrastructure, whether it’s parks, or whether it’s water, or streets. We need to make sure that we are constantly reinvesting in those things. That’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve been constantly re-investing in ourselves. To me, that’s what a council and a mayor of a city need to be doing,” said Smith.
The renovation was not without its challenges, but the effort has paid off. The center now stands as one of the largest event venues in Meridian.
“This building got burnt in 2019, and the previous administration had plans to renovate the building- great plans to renovate the building. So, we just picked the torch up and continued the progress on. I think that’s what the city needs. To continue on progress. So, this building is up and running and ready for the city’s use or for the community’s use,” said Thomas Adams, Director of Meridian Parks and Recreation.
“As far as capacity wise, it holds about 2,000 people standing and 1,600 with chairs, and 800 with tables and chairs. So, the building itself is 16,000 square feet,” said Adams. “Just here in Highland Park alone, we have about 48 cameras. We do have cameras throughout the building here on the grounds and on the inside, and that’s just an added measure of security. No camera’s going to stop crime, but it kind of helps to determine who’s doing what. I think every park needs cameras.”
The center is named after Frank Cochran, a longtime parks and recreation director and former football coach at Meridian High School. A plaque honoring his legacy is in the works.
“He was a longtime parks and recreation director, and he coached football at Meridian High School. At some point, we are in the process of getting a plaque made with a picture of Frank Cochran and the history behind Frank Cochran, because there’s no need to have a name on a building if you don’t know who it represents or who he was and what not,” said Adams. “Mark Davis and John Purdy, or Davis and Purdy Architects, they designed, they say the vision that we wanted for this building, how we wanted it to look, the things that we wanted as far as our offices being over here, and they designed a great plan, and they saw the plan come to fruition, and they did an excellent job on this project as a whole.”
“This is a win for the city because once again, it’s one of, if not the largest event venue here, and once again, our offices are housed over here in this building, and I think what you see now is progress,” said Adams.
As the city looks to the future, the Frank Cochran Center stands as a symbol of resilience, growth, and the continued investment in Meridian’s community spaces.
