In 1949, Jackson Coca-Cola Bottling Company opened up a brand new plant on Highway 80.  The new plant would host groups of school children for plant tours for many years.  In fact, a commenter on the West Jackson (Mississippi) Memories page asks “how many people went there on a field trip in elementary school and got a tiny Coke bottle key chain?”

The plant was a mainstay on Highway 80 for 58 years. Then, in 2007, the company vacated the aging facility and moved into a newer building in the Northwest Jackson Industrial Park near Interstate 220.  The bright spot in this story: at least they didn’t leave the city. However they did leave 143,000 square feet of building space to rest vacant and lonely on the west side.

But there’s hope! New York investor Gil Sidi has purchased the property and is working with the Jackson Community Design Center (JCDC) to develop a plan to make this property something hip, cool, and unique for the city of Jackson.

Follow their progress through their new blog, The Old Coca-Cola Plant Blog.