McCormick’s bar and grill located in The Inn at Ole Miss received the finishing touch on Aug. 6 with the installation of the bar top handcrafted by Ben Napier, alumnus and star of HGTV’s “Home Town.”
“[Ole Miss Alumni Association Executive Director] Kirk Purdom reached out to me directly [about designing the bar top],” said Napier (BA 07). “He knew that the University of Mississippi is a special place to [my wife] Erin and me. We got engaged at Square Books, got married at Paris-Yates Chapel and spent our wedding night at The Inn. With me being a woodworker who actually learned my craft in the art department of Ole Miss, Kirk knew I’d jump at this opportunity.”
The Inn at Ole Miss was granted resort status in 2018, and the Ole Miss Alumni Association, which operates the hotel, announced plans in December 2019 to convert the existing café into McCormick’s, a full-service bar, restaurant and lounge. McCormick’s opened in September 2020, allowing The Inn to provide long-requested services and be a gathering space for guests and the general public to enjoy.
For his part in crafting something particularly special suitable for such a unique place, Napier said he wanted to draw from the beauty and atmosphere of the Ole Miss campus.
“After contemplating a live edged piece, I ultimately decided that it would feel too rustic for Mississippi’s flagship university and decided that a nice shaped edge would be best,” said Napier. “Something that feels good resting forearms against after beating a SEC West team.”
“We couldn’t be happier with the finished project that serves as a cornerstone of the Alumni Association’s mission to foster community, communication and connections for current and future Ole Miss alumni and friends,” said Purdom (BA 93). “It also serves as an excellent entertaining space for event planners and groups that utilize our meeting spaces in The Inn at Ole Miss. We hope that it will become part of everyone’s trip to campus on home football weekends this fall.”
Donors have an opportunity to have their names or others they want to recognize placed in one of the most prominent locations in Oxford.
Naming opportunities range from $10,000 to $50,000. Campaign giving levels start at $250, but gifts of any amount are welcome. Membership in the Rebel Mug Club is $500 per member. Rebel Mug Club members receive a 28-ounce commemorative ceramic mug featuring the new McCormick’s logo, 20-ounce draft beer for the price of a pint in McCormick’s, and the first 200 charter members’ names will be placed on a plaque visible to patrons. Gifts in support of McCormick’s are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
More details are available at olemissalumni.com/mccormicks. For more information on the project, including naming opportunities, contact Clay Cavett at 662-915-1869 or clay@olemissalumni.com.
Photos by Bill Dabney Photography.
