At least part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Interpretive Museum in downtown Vicksburg will be open in March 2012, senior project manager Mike Renacker told members and guests of Vicksburg Main Street Program during their 27th annual meeting Tuesday night.

“It’s not just a Corps museum,” Renacker said. “This is about the city of Vicksburg and about life on the river. We are focusing on Vicksburg. There’s connective history here.”

Renacker said the $16 million Lower Mississippi River Museum and Riverfront Interpretive Center along Washington Street at China and Jackson streets will be built in three stages because of limited work space in the downtown area. Completion of all three, with the museum aboard the MV Mississippi IV as the centerpiece, the Fairground Street bridge relocation and the installation of the Mississippi River flood model, are expected by August 2012, he said.

The museum will be finished first and will feature an aquarium, interactive exhibits, self-guided tours, a sediment table that will display a tracking of water movement and an orientation theater showing movies about the Corps and life on the river.

Renacker also talked about the installation of a boat simulator for guests.

“People think they can drive a boat, but we’ll see,” he joked to the crowd.

Once construction of the museum building is complete, contractors will begin disassembling the 142-year-old Fairground Street bridge that has been closed to traffic, and re-assemble the refurbished version of the bridge to serve as a walkway between downtown attractions.

“The major feature is the Fairground Street bridge,” Renacker said. “It was built in 1868 in Dubuque, Iowa. It was erected in Vicksburg in 1895 and meant to take a horse and buggy from the city over railroad tracks to the river. The bridge will serve as a meeting point. People will be able to walk over from Washington Street to Levee Street.” The bridge relocation is set for an opening of April 2012.

The final stage of work is the installation of the Mississippi River flood model, an 800-acre river basin that will be trimmed down to simulate the river between Greenville and Vicksburg.

“It will be very similar to Mud Island River Park in Memphis,” said Renacker describing the model as a mid-20th century pre-computer because of its high level of accuracy. “This is incredible how accurate this model is.”

Groundbreaking for the interpretive center attraction began in November 2009, but the conception of building a museum began in 1992, when the City of Vicksburg purchased the retired MV Mississippi IV flagship for $1. The title was returned to the Corps in 2005.

The project hit a snag last March, when an underground land shift occurred on the work site at Washington and Jackson streets. Work resumed more than a month later.

With about a year left to go on the project that is expected to help revitalize the City Front landscape, local officials are anxious.

“The MV Mississippi has history and anytime you’re dealing with a project that has history tied to it,” said North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield who attended the event, “it’s always a plus for the city. That project alone is a long time coming and now that it’s about to see fruition, it’s going to be a big plug for the city.”

“Just think of all the people who are going to come downtown,” said Harry Sharp, chairman of the Vicksburg Main Street Program, the organization charged with promoting downtown businesses. “It’s going to be very exciting.”

Renacker, who is from Columbus and now lives in Clinton, has worked with the Corps for eight years–working in various projects before becoming the interpretive center’s senior project manager.

He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Mississippi University for Women in 1995 and a master’s in historical archaeology from the University of West Florida in 2001.

Tuesday’s event recognized the achievements of the Vicksburg Main Street Program during 2010.

Sharp boasted a “busy year.”

“We had 10 new businesses open downtown and, unfortunately, we had two to close,” he said. “We had 55 new jobs created in the Main Street district, however, we did lose 13.”

He said private investments totaled $1,314,315, and public investments came in at $1,132,731.

“Private investment is greater than public investment,” he said, “and that is a good sign.”

Last year, Main Street recorded 1,154 volunteer hours, equaling about $25,000 in salaries that would have been paid, Sharp said.

“We’ve been very busy in 2010, and this year will be no different,” he said. “We have a few goals for 2011.”

They include a branding study with Arnett Muldrow & Associates of Greenville, S.C., which has conducted studies for Main Street organizations throughout the state, and to create a tour of historical churches in the local area, Port Gibson and Woodville.

Sharp said if talks among the cities work out, the tour could start in the fall of 2012.