Mississippi Port Authority approves engineering contract for East Pier maritime technology center
The Mississippi State Port Authority Board of Commissioners approved new engineering work for a planned advanced maritime technology center at its Aug. 27 meeting.
According to the board's minutes, Commissioner Cowles Symmes moved to approve Work Order No. 4 under Contract 27-EN-01, saying it was "for engineering design services for the East Pier Advanced Maritime Technology Center" in "an amount not to exceed $206,562.00." The board also approved a related $50,000 work order under the same contract for business development engineering, and voted to advertise for construction bids on the technology center project, the minutes show.
The minutes do not further detail the scope of the design work or specify a timeline for the bid advertisement, and the full obligations under Contract 27-EN-01 have not been independently confirmed.
The approval represents new capital spending in the Port Authority's ongoing infrastructure program at Gulfport, tied to its broader push into advanced manufacturing at the port. Such contracts form part of the state's public engineering and construction spending tracked by officials monitoring port development and related economic-development activity in the region.