After years of planning and multiple delays, the expansion of the Landers Center in Southaven is finally underway.

Multiple acres of land have been cleared and the DeSoto Family Theatre has been demolished to make way for the project, which includes an expansion of the Landers Center's separate convention space and a new on-site hotel complete with a restaurant.

The convention space will balloon from 17,000 square feet to a massive 76,000-square-foot complex able to host just about any kind of event imaginable. The Landers Center arena will remain as is and still regularly host events, though it will be out of operation for a short period sometime during construction to change the HVAC system.

Landers Center Executive Director Todd Mastry said the expansion has been a long time coming.

“Our lead architect Doug Thornton and I have been working on this since 2011, 2012,” Mastry said. “It was really where we began to… we were turning away business because we just didn’t have the inventory in terms of dates.”

With the available space quadrupling in size, that’s no longer going to be a problem. Mastry said a variety of “SMERF” events — social, military, educational, religious and fraternal — will now be able to be hosted in North Mississippi thanks to the expansion.

“I do think that having this convention center here is going to enhance our reputation throughout the state… for business, innovation, tourism and attract other investments,” said Amelia Lovorn, DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau board chair. The CVB operates the Landers Center. “It’s a great networking and business opportunity, and it’s going to have a huge cultural impact for our community. I think it goes back to, if you build it, they will come.”

The construction of the $85 million expansion has an equally large completion timeline. Mastry said preparing the dirt work around where the new building will be is expected to last a few months depending on how extreme winter weather gets, and footers for the structure will begin to be placed in April or May. A “golden shovel” groundbreaking ceremony is expected around that time.

From there, Mastry expects a grand opening in the second quarter of 2027. Both the hotel and convention center will open at the same time, though only the convention center has county funding — the hotel, an Embassy Suites, is privately funded.

Mastry said around six to 12 full-time positions and as many as 250 to 300 part-time jobs will be created at the convention center. He did not have an estimate on the hotel’s employment numbers — according to IBISWorld , the average hotel in the U.S. employs 11.1 people.

The seven-story, 240-room hotel is a critical piece in attracting major events and gatherings to the space. The hotel will host a free-standing restaurant as well as flashy guest features like a lazy river.

“It does make it a lot easier for clients that are doing trade shows, conferences, different events, to be able to be right on campus,” Mastry said. “It also gives the opportunity for folks that are coming to an arena show, a theater show… to stay with us on campus the whole time and do a number of different events.”

To accommodate the hundreds of hotel guests and thousands of convention goers, a new parking garage was initially planned for the lot, but was scrapped to cut costs. Mastry said the loss of the garage will not be an issue. An existing lot has already received new asphalt and a new entrance. More lots will be added as well.

“What most folks don't realize is that south of where Landers Center sits is a 27-acre property,” he said. “All of that has the potential to become more parking, and a lot of it will.”

In addition to the primary convention space, the existing space is planned to house the recently demolished DeSoto Family Theatre. Mastry said the cost of creating a new theater was “extraordinary,” and to compromise, 12,000 square feet of the existing 17,000-square-foot space will be converted into a theater, saving on structural and infrastructural costs.

Various sports have been taken into consideration as well — a 30-foot roof means cheer, tennis, volleyball, basketball and other similar events will be able to be hosted in the convention space.

Though it will take more than two years to come to fruition, the impact of the expansion on the county's economy and recognition across Mississippi cannot be understated, as DeSoto County Supervisor Mark Gardner noted.

"The two projects in tandem will be the biggest economic investment in DeSoto County ever," Gardner said. "It's going to change the landscape of northern DeSoto County."

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at .