BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – The latest Biloxi infrastructure project dragged beyond its original completion date has left a local business struggling to see a silver lining.
Camellia Street is in ruin, and it’s been that way since construction on new utility infrastructure started back in November 2024. Just a week before the City of Biloxi’s contractor tore up the roadway, The Sanctuary opened at the intersection of Southern Ave.
Camellia Street in ruin 13 months after work began.(WLOX)
The Sanctuary is mostly known as an entertainment venue, giving new life to an old church. The building also hosts a number of smaller businesses and an Airbnb.
Owner Jason Stearman said he spent two-and-a-half years and more than $2 million to open this commercial project only to be hit by a curveball: the Camellia Street infrastructure work.
“We were told it would just be a couple of months,” Stearman told WLOX News. “We just had our one-year anniversary.”
Jason Stearman and business partner Jennifer Miller in front of The Sanctuary.(WLOX)
In November 2024, Necaise Brothers Construction signed a contract with the City of Biloxi to complete the infrastructure work in three months.
13 months later, work is still not complete.
“A lot of people don’t even know we’re here because you can’t even get down this road. It’s definitely had a negative impact. People are constantly complaining. I’ve lost a couple of tenants in the process,” Stearman said. “I don’t understand how anybody would let this happen.”
A detour sign on Highway 90 does not display lettering to indicate it is an alternate route for Camellia Street. Neither do any of the detour signs placed by Biloxi.
In fact, strips of duct tape cover where the Camellia Street label should be. Behind the duct tape is lettering for Beauvoir Road, which had detours last year as part of the same, larger Post-Katrina Infrastructure Rebuild.
Detour signs have no lettering to indicate alternate route for Camellia Street.(WLOX)
The City of Biloxi did not make anyone available for interview, but a spokesperson said the Camellia Street delay is because design plans were drawn up back in 2014. In the ten years it took to start construction, elevation levels of Highway 90 and nearby properties changed, the spokesperson said.
Necaise Brothers Construction, the company awarded the project by Biloxi, reported issues to the city back in January 2025.
11 months later, the latest contract lists a completion date of Dec. 19.
“Warren Paving will be out here tomorrow,” Ward Three Councilman Mike Nail told WLOX News. “They’re ready to get this over with. And everyone I know who lives back here in this neighborhood are so ready. They’re frustrated.”
Ward Three Councilman Mike Nail interviewing with Noah Noble.(WLOX)
It’s welcome news for Stearman, but he believes there are larger issues at play here than a simple design error.
“I’ve invested in my community and put my money where my mouth is,” he said. “I’d really appreciate the leadership of this city getting involved and taking care of business and getting this thing finished. It’s beyond ridiculous. There’s no way this should take this long.”
See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.
Copyright 2025 WLOX. All rights reserved.