Vicksburg District to temporarily close Jesse Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District will temporarily close the Jesse Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum in downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi, beginning  March 17 at 4 p.m. CDT.

The museum’s closure is due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) concern and recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and USACE guidance to avoid large gatherings of people. As of 8 a.m. CDT March 17, 12 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in Mississippi.

“Based on the growing concern with COVID-19, the Vicksburg District will temporarily close the museum beginning March 17,” said district commander Col. Robert Hilliard. “We have reached out to our stakeholders, including the City of Vicksburg, the Vicksburg Visitors’ Bureau and the Vicksburg Tourism Board, for their awareness and to prepare their personnel. The health and safety of our team and our community remain our top priority, and we are committed to doing our part to reduce risk. We will continue to monitor conditions to determine when the museum will reopen, and we thank the museum’s visitors and supporters for their understanding.”

Located in downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Jesse Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum allows visitors to learn about how people have lived, worked and played on the Mississippi River throughout history and how USACE has made those experiences possible. The museum’s interactive exhibits include the Motor Vessel Mississippi IV, a decommissioned USACE towboat and flagship for the Mississippi River Commission.

The Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The district encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that holds seven major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The district is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.

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