# Morning Brief: Oct 22 · 110-Acre Medical District Study Lands as Cancer Center Breaks Ground

> Business leaders got their first look at a land-use study covering 110 acres of mostly state-owned land around UMMC and Veterans Memorial Stadium, the same week the cancer center that sparked it breaks ground.

*General News · By Jackson Wire Staff · October 22, 2026*

## 1. 110-acre medical district study surfaces

Austin Barbour of The Clearwater Group told Fondren’s business improvement district Wednesday that a land-use study is examining roughly 110 acres of largely state-owned property bounded by North State Street, Woodrow Wilson Avenue, West Street and the railroad corridor west of the medical center. The Great City Foundation commissioned it and hired Jackson firm Wier Boerner Allin to draw concepts: housing, restaurants, retail, research space, gathering areas. Barbour said the analysis will estimate job creation, private investment and tax revenue for the city, county and state, and that both this study and Jackson State’s separate stadium analysis should be finished in the next several weeks. The Clarion Ledger reported the findings will then go to Gov. Tate Reeves, Speaker Jason White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. No cost estimate has been published.

## 2. Cancer center groundbreaking is today

The ceremonial groundbreaking for the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, the event Barbour called the catalyst for the land study. UMMC has described the building as five stories and more than 250,000 square feet, funded through its largest capital campaign to date, with Regions Bank announcing a $2.5 million gift on Oct. 5. The Wire reported this month that the project carries a $250 million price tag, $100 million of it state money. The open question for the district study is the stadium: Barbour said no plan moves forward without answering where Jackson State football plays, and JSU is running its own options-and-costs analysis.

## 3. Baptist closes on Merit Health Rankin

Baptist Memorial Health Care assumed the lease and operations of the 134-bed Merit Health Rankin in Brandon on Oct. 1 and marked the transfer with an event this morning, WLBT reported. The Rankin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously June 2 to assign the lease from Brandon HMA, an affiliate of Community Health Systems. Under the agreement Baptist Memorial committed to invest $70 million in the hospital and to offer employment to more than 175 employees in good standing. The hospital sits at 350 Crossgates Blvd. in Brandon. It becomes the Memphis-based nonprofit system’s 26th hospital, per Becker’s Hospital Review, and the largest recent ownership change in metro Jackson health care.

## 4. Museum of Art weighs a cultural campus

Mississippi Museum of Art director Betsy Bradley told the Clarion Ledger the museum has spent a couple of years master planning its indoor and outdoor spaces and now is looking at the whole block, including Thalia Mara Hall, the Mississippi Arts Center and the Russell C. Davis Planetarium. One concept would push the Art Garden south toward the Jackson Convention Complex and build a trailhead where the Museum Trail extension will run down Court Street behind the building, where visitors currently see loading docks and chillers. Bradley said there is no cost estimate yet because architectural programming has not started. She cited Bentonville, Arkansas as the model for clustered arts buildings drawing more visitors than scattered ones.

## 5. Asphalt bids close Tuesday

The city’s procurement portal lists three solicitations due Oct. 27 at 3:30 p.m.: RFQ 74505-102726 for a 24-month supply of asphaltic paving materials, RFQ 74567-102726 for a 24-month asphalt pavement milling contract, and an RFQ for contractor qualifications for Housing and Community Development rehabilitation work. A fourth, emergency ambulance services, is not due until Nov. 24. The two paving contracts are the city’s recurring road-maintenance spend, and the terms run two years, so the pricing set next week outlasts the current budget year. Bids go to the City Clerk’s office at 219 South President Street or through jacksonmsbids.com. The postings do not disclose an estimated contract value.

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[The Jackson Wire](https://www.thejacksonwire.com/) · [Read on the web](https://www.thejacksonwire.com/article/morning-brief-2026-10-22)