Odie Avery, 2013 master of landscape architecture alumnus of Mississippi State University, sits in his 1909 folk Victorian home in Eupora. The house has a gabled roof, bay windows with beveled glass and a wraparound porch. Original beadboard runs along the wall in what will become the living room.
In other rooms, the board has been removed to be refurbished then reattached. Stacks of spindles, boards, and hardware await to be restored and reused. As Avery restores this home, he also works to improve the town where he grew up. As director of public works since June 2022, he’s helping reshape the town that helped shape him.
“My experience in urban and city planning, project management and community engagement is a good fit here, especially since leadership and community organizers have already been moving things forward. I oversee the street department and the water and wastewater department while managing the duties of the building official code enforcement officer, and planning and zoning administrator. It sounds like a lot, but I’m loving every minute of it,” he said.
He’s excited about the community’s growth and momentum.
“It’s wonderful to see people who I grew up with have moved back and new people who make their home here. We have great leadership in our mayor and Board of Aldermen. We also have engaged citizens who want to see our city reach its full potential,” he said.
Avery is focused on updating the city’s water infrastructure. The team has a project designed and shovel ready that will address the older parts of town once funding is approved. Street improvement is also planned with $700,000 allocated in funding (completed since original publication).
Avery also serves on the mayor’s economic development committee.
“Through the economic development committee, the city has received several grants that have been used for community events, police department resources and supplies, and improvements to our parks and playgrounds. The city also passed a rental housing ordinance and has revised many of the processes and procedures for how day-to-day operations are managed for greater efficiency,” he said.
Before his current role, Avery worked for the city of Starkville as assistant city planner.
“I went to MSU with the city planner, who has been an exceptional mentor. He understood the opportunity in Eupora wasn’t something that came along every day, and he knew in my heart I wanted to be involved in the day-to-day in my hometown,” Avery said.
Before the smaller towns of Eupora and Starkville, Avery was in urban planning in big cities in the Upper Midwest, designing and planting gardens across Detroit and designing high-end residential landscape projects in Chicago’s North Shore along Lake Michigan.
“The experience of designing large-scale projects in Chicago helps me in my role here. Everything seems manageable because I have experience organizing and managing very large, multifaceted projects,” he said.
After Chicago, Avery designed school gardens in Detroit’s urban core.
“I was project manager for a nonprofit focused on empowering students in schools to grow their own food. I utilized my experience in landscape design to help create unique spaces and outdoor classrooms where students could learn and grow,” he said.
In all, he designed and helped build 54 gardens in Detroit and supported gardens in Chicago and Indianapolis, building a total of eight in those vicinities while helping with nearly 125.
He said seeing how communities take care of each other gives him inspiration and ideas for Eupora as well.
“You don’t have a strong town unless you have a strong community. Across the country we’ve gotten so disconnected from our communities. Seeing how people took care of each other in Detroit and the surrounding communities offered great insight into a system of grassroots, mutual aid, community building I had never experienced,” he said.
The house is Avery’s first historical restoration.
“When I moved back, I didn’t intend to buy a historic property that needed a full renovation, but I’ve always wanted to restore an old house and I’ve watched this house since I was young. Also, an excellent group of preservationists in our community have inspired me to take on this project,” he said.
In some ways, renovating a house is like working to improve a city, Avery notes.
“You make plans and know the direction you want to go in, but you must spend time strengthening the foundation. That’s where we are in Eupora. We have plans and are developing more ideas as projects come to fruition but we’re also doing the legwork now so when big projects begin, things move quickly,” he said.
Avery said one of his favorite aspects of his hometown is its sense of community and place.
“Growing up here, I realized how important a sense of place is for helping a community thrive. As a landscape designer, I am always thinking about physical spaces I can help create to bring the community together,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the 2022-23 issue of Influence, the alumni newsletter of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Mississippi State University (cals.msstate.edu).
