We’d be the first to agree with our Southern mamas who told us to clean up because “you won’t have a second chance to make a first impression.” That said, we applaud the new landscaping at the Mississippi Welcome Center. It’s nice to drive across the Mississippi River Bridge and be welcomed by such a picturesque quintessential Southern building with a wide veranda and comfortable chairs.

Secondly, while the $75,000 price tag in this economy seems steep, it is a “drop in the bucket” of the state’s $5.5 billion budget. The $75,000 spent sprucing up the center also could translate into more dollars spent in our community, and spread the word about what Mississippi has to offer visitors.

Having such a venue, with its scenic views of the Old Muddy, will entice travelers to stop to find the maps, directions to finding the best restaurants and attractions not only in Vicksburg but across the state. Mississippi, after all, brands itself as the hospitality state. What better way to showcase that hospitality than a top-notch welcome center mere feet from the Louisiana border.

But there is a flip side.

The center that offers tourists maps, answers to questions, directions and hot coffee reopened last week after being closed to the public for two months while plants and bushes were installed on the grounds. Come on.

Here is the problem: Why was it closed in the first place? Couldn’t that work have been done without the whole operation being shut down? And, most importantly, how much potential revenue in tourist dollars did the state lose?

Residential yard work is done regularly without families having to move out, and, even if company shows up during the work, the visitors are led around the leaves, grass clippings or whatever. The welcome center, though large enough to accommodate visitors, is not so large that landscaping should have shut it down.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation, which made the decision to close down the welcome center for up to six months — thankfully, the job was completed and the center was closed for only two months — was right in its attempts to try to make the best first impression, but in these times of severe fiscal constraints, it might should have tried not to throw the baby out with the bath water.