In a presentation to the Kosciusko Board of Aldermen last week, Darren Milner presented the case for pursuing the effort to construct the Mississippi Native American Museum on court square in downtown Kosciusko.
Milner, who also serves as director of the Kosciusko-Attala Partnership, made the presentation on behalf of the Kosciusko Attala County Foundation.
Construction of the project is estimated to cost nearly $4.8 million, with the city already committed to putting $1 million in project-specific funds received from the state legislature toward the museum. The $4.8 million price tag does not include operational costs of maintaining the museum.
The foundation expects to spend the next nine to 12 months educating the public and gaining the support necessary to ensure it has the ability to raise all the funds necessary to construct the 
museum. Milner said the hope is to raise about 50% of the construction costs within the initial 12-month window as proof the project will be successful in meeting the total fundraising goals. After that, he expects it to take up to another two years to raise the rest of the money.
Mayor Jimmy Cockroft noted that without financial support from the local community, it may be difficult to encourage others to donate to the effort.
“We have $1 million, but it is hard to ask for more money if we haven’t done anything,” he said. “We’re going to have to get local money — both city money and county money.”
Milner said museums add $50 billion to the national economy each year providing for 726,000 jobs and $12 billion in local, state and federal taxes paid each year. On a local level, he said, research indicates that for every $1 in funding a museum receives from all levels of government, they return $5 in tax revenue.
He then presented information on the local impact of other Mississippi museum projects, which he indicated have spurred related development in their host communities. They included the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, the Grammy Museum in Cleveland and the under-development Marty Stuart Congress of Country Music, planned for Philadelphia.
The proximity to the Natchez Trace Parkway — and its service as a connector of Native American sites from Natchez to Nashville, TN — is considered a positive toward the museum’s potential success.
“Our Mississippi Native American Museum would be an authentic part of the historical narrative and journey that would provide travelers the opportunity to stop and explore out community as part of this trail throughout the state,” read one slide in the presentation.
The presentation noted that in 2018, the Trace had 6.4 million visitors who spent $93 million in the communities along the way. With a museum drawing those visitors into the downtown area, local businesses could garner some of those tourist dollars.
Milner said the group believes that construction of the museum could lead to additional development in retail, restaurants and lodging in Kosciusko and the county.
Milner told those present that, although the museum would be a catalyst for economic development in the community, its value to the area would likely be much broader, serving as a cultural and educational center of the community.
“It isn’t just the economics of it, but what it could add to the community,” he said Milner.
