Once completed, the Mississippi Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer will “change Vicksburg forever” Tim Cantwell said while speaking to the Vicksburg Kiwanis Club Tuesday.

The transfer center is slated to be built in the Mississippi Hardware building, which Cantwell purchased in Dec. 2016.

“The idea that had been on the table was to put that into apartments,” Cantwell said. “I remember talking with Bancorp about and that we ought to just wait a minute and see if there is something we can do that would be in the order of economic development for that building rather than apartments.”

The plan for the building is for it to serve as a center where private businesses can work with researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center to bring products being designed to market. The plan will also be to locate ERDC’s existing graduate institute in the center, incorporate portions of the Vicksburg Warren School District’s career academies and hopefully attract undergraduate programs, Cantwell said.

“That is around the idea that solutions to problems that ERDC and Army Corps deal with at an international level around the military have applications that the military can’t pick up, grow and make happen,” Cantwell said. “The idea would be to co-locate in the building elements of that partnership, intermediary activity to try to sort out some of the potential commercial utilizations and have this be an incubator.”

Cantwell previously developed the First National Building on Washington Street into the Lofts and 10 South. He was also involved in the recently opened Cottonwood Public House next door.

Cantwell said that as part of the First National Project they raised $1.8 million in capital. He said they may need as much as $2.3 million in capital for the transfer center, which is expected to be about a $20 million project.

“For First National, we raised that with the exception of a couple people, all came from other parts of the country from people who came, looked at your city and thought what a great city,” he said. “I would hope that this time we will get that from you all.”

The center will also be funded using Historic and New Market Tax Credits, Cantwell said. The building was built in 1936 and the design will have to be approved by National Archives.

“Two weeks ago we got back from National Archives approval of what they call part two that allows you to process a facility like this under historic guidelines,” Cantwell said. “We are having a little argument on some items, which is to be expected, but we will get through that.”

Cantwell, who did not offer a timeline for the center opening, said they are in the “sausage make phase” of getting everything together to enable them to move forward.