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18, 2013 | V
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MISSISSIPPIAN T h e S t u d e n t N e w s pa p e r
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The University
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M i ss i ss i p p i | S e r v i n g O l e M i ss
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Oxford’s entertainment options expand beyond just movies BY SUMMER WIGLEY sswigley@go.olemiss.edu
Malco Theatres purchased the former Amp in early June with plans to transform it into a family entertainment center. The center will include a bowling alley, bumper cars, laser maze and 10 movie screens. Malco Theatres Inc., a Memphis-based Mid South movie theatre chain, plans to double the size of the former Amp, which was a 10-screen movie theatre, for the new accommodations. Malco purchased property adjacent to the old movie theatre from Kenlan Development Co. in order to expand the building. The new family entertainment center is located on Sisk Avenue off Highway 7 in the Oxford Commons development. The development, a 480-acre area zoned for mixed commercial and residential communities, is home to two hotels, Della Davidson Elementary School and the future Oxford High School. After remaining dormant due to the economy, prosperity is looking up for the Oxford Commons development. It
plans to accommodate a residential community that will add 1,000 new homes. Along with regular film showings, Malco has big plans for movie goers. “The additional screens in the market will allow Malco to offer a wide range of independent, foreign and smaller films that it was not previously able to show in Oxford,” said Karen Scott, Malco’s director of marketing. Senior psychology major Sam Lyons is excited for the addition of foreign and independent films. “I think it will be great to have more variety in Oxford,” Lyons said. “I only get to see independent films on Netflix. The showings will definitely add to the movie watching experience.” The new movie theatre plans to open on Labor Day, but the rest of the entertainment center will not open until next year. The addition of the bowling alley will return an old form of entertainment to Oxford. After decades of having a bowling alley in Oxford, the bowling alley off of West
KATIE WILLIAMSON | The Daily Mississippian
The former Amp Theater on Sisk Avenue was purchased by Malco to become a family entertainment center.
Jackson Avenue was destroyed in a fire in September of 2010. “I was extremely upset when I learned that the bowling alley had burned down in 2010 because it was such a fun activity to do with your friends,” said junior accoun-
tancy major Jessica McKenzie. “I’m excited that a new one is being developed because it will be so much more convenient than having to drive to Memphis just to bowl.” Malco, who currently runs an eight-screen movie theatre
on West Jackson Avenue, intends to keep its location in spite of its new expansion. “We are very excited about the second location and look forward to both theatres being an integral part of the Oxford community,” Scott said.
Minority vendors’ fair strives to network and foster diversity BY KATHERINE CARR kecarr@go.olemiss.edu
This afternoon for the first time a vendors’ fair for minority businesses will meet and work to promote diversity in the workplace. The event will take place in the multipurpose room at the Jackson Avenue Center. The event, titled “Minority Business Expo: Making the University Connection,” starts at 1 p.m., but a complementary lunch will be served before at 12:30 p.m. The expo is being co-hosted by The University of Missisippi and Mississippi State University, and is sponsored by the offices of the Vice Chancellor for Procurement Services and Administration and Finance.
James R. Windham, director of procurement services, said that they are hoping to have 60 to 65 minority businesses present. “This is a diversity fair,” Windham said. “It is the first one that the university has ever held and we’re looking for good things to come of it.” After the lunch is served guest speaker Kathy Times is going to demonstrate a new website, Wheretogo411.com, which has been endorsed by the college board in Jackson. Kathy Times has received much recognition for her work as a journalist, receiving Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow Award. She also works as an entrepreneur and currently serves as the presi-
dent of Yellow Brick Media concepts, LLC as well as the Immediate Past President of the National Association of Black Journalists. Windham said that Times is actually the person who asked the universities to host this expo and was instrumental to setting it up. After Times’ demonstration, there will be networking oneon-one. “We’re going to have well over 15 university departments, seated behind tables, and several people from Mississippi State, and the vendors that we’re hoping will show up will be able to network one-on-one, and maybe we can match some business to university departments and
they can generate a relationship and hopefully it will be beneficial to both sides,” Windham said. Donald Cole, assistant provost and assistant to the chancellor for multicultural affairs and associate professor of mathematics, said this fair will hopefully be the beginning of a series of events promoting diversity in the university vendors’ bank. “In the process we recognize that you can’t just take the ‘we’ll build and they’ll come’ attitude,” Cole said. “We have to be a little more proactive as an institution. Not only do we have to build it, but we have to do some recruiting. We have to say, ‘Okay, it’s built, and it’s been built for you.’ This
can’t be a one-time thing.” In addition to making connections, Cole hopes these businesses will leave with a better understanding of the process of procurement services. “It’s not always an easy process to navigate, the rules and regulations along the way, so we’d like to share all of this with them,” Cole said. “We’d like to get them in a pipeline. There might be some where it will be easy for them to take advantage of our services and others might have to be rendered to another level for them to take advantage of it, but we’re hoping that the financial incentives are there and that will bring them (the vendors) out.”