It was a time to look back, and a time to look ahead when the fabled neon lights lit the night at the Greyhound Bus Station at 407 East Main St., Thursday.
“This is an exciting night, and tonight, I never dreamed so many people would be coming out,” John Allen said, “This building has just drawn so much excitement in the community (and) I’m just glad to see a new generation coming in to appreciate what I did and hope for good things from here on.”
Allen, president of the John H. Allen Company, purchased the 5,000-square-foot iconic facility from Doris Hollowell in 2018 for $319,000.
“I hope so,” Allen said, when asked if he considered the facility as the crown jewel of downtown Jackson,” We’ve put a lot into it, and keeping these old buildings and the character of them is something I’ve done all my adult life … I’ve spent my whole life downtown restoring these old buildings, and there not too many I haven’t worked on, and we’re just happy to be a part of it.”
The Jackson station was built in 1938 by Hubert Owens Construction Company, and continued to function as a Greyhound bus depot until Sept. 29, 2018.
Located across East Main Street from the Ned R. McWherter Performing Arts Center, the station is listed on the National Historic Register.
The station is the last Art-Deco Greyhound Building that remains in use in the nation, and one of only three that has not been demolished.
Allen said the building has been the center of a lot of discussion, and easily the most special he has ever worked on.
“This one has drawn the most attention,” Allen said, “I can’t go anywhere without somebody – most of the time I don’t even know them – and they come up to me and say “John, John what are you going to do to the Greyhound (building)?”
“All I can say is, “I don’t know, we’re going to get the outside ready and see what happens after that.”
“We’ll be heavily marketing this building, looking for someone who wants to create a destination point for downtown Jackson.”
(PHOTO: Greyhound Bus Station, 407 East Main Street)
David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
https://www.facebook.com/NewsTalk1015/
