The opening of Mugshots Grill and Bar on Main Street this week is the kind of investment that Starkville’s growing downtown area needs.
Starkville is not known for its nightlife. This doesn’t have to be a perpetual truth, however.
The Main Street area has the antiquated charm to become something more like the downtown area in Athens, Ga.
Athens is home to the University of Georgia, an SEC school about twice as large as Mississippi State. The city of Athens is a city of about 80,000 known for its vibrance and close ties to the student population.
The success of Athens’ downtown district is due to those business leaders who operate the 80 bars and restaurants within the few square blocks that make up the area.
Starkville can be known for having a thriving entertainment district. It will attract more people to the city. It will attract more students to the university.
But it isn’t going to happen without capital investments from risk-takers like Chris McDonald, who owns Mugshots, Dave Hood, who owns the State Theatre and International Bistro and Chip Cole and Seth O’Nan, who own Chalmers Irish-American Cuisine.
Things didn’t work out for the owners of the ill-fated Manhattan Lounge, which enjoyed brief operation downtown, but for others, the investment has paid off many times over.
Just ask Dan Camp, the ultra-successful developer of the nearby Cotton District.