BILOXI — A $150 million medical park designed to run on solar power, hydrogen fuel cells and battery storage is moving forward in Biloxi after weather-related delays.

Tomaston Medical Park is planned for about 18 acres near North Oaklawn Lane, where city-approved plans call for two medical buildings, an office building, parking and a commissary. Developers say the project could bring more specialty care to the Gulf Coast while using a sustainable energy system to help its buildings operate independently. 

Biloxi Community Development Director Jerry Creel said crews are pouring concrete this week for the first building, a pain management center expected to be complete by December 2026. 

“They’re moving forward with phase one, which is the pain management center,” Creel said. “(When they finish,) they plan to immediately build another building behind it.” 

The city approved the project in December 2023, but construction has moved slower than originally expected. Work had been expected to begin in April 2025, but co-owner Bart Edmiston said recent downpours slowed construction. High interest rates, rising building costs and decisions about which services to offer also affected the timeline, he said. 

“Without support from the hospitals or any other entity, it’s a challenge,” Edmiston said. “Building costs have gone up almost exponentially. Interest rates haven’t really budged from around 7%, so the cost of borrowing money is still very high.” 

Edmiston said the energy system is designed to make each building less dependent on the larger power grid. Under the plan, solar panels would charge the batteries on clear days. When cloudy weather limits solar production, hydrogen fuel cells would supply power to the battery system. 

Edmiston said the fuel cells would produce only water as a byproduct. He said the system is meant to reduce reliance on the power grid as electric vehicles, data centers and other technology increase demand. 

“I’m a big believer in decentralization of our electrical grid to prevent the outages and to meet the needs that I think are coming,” Edmiston said.

The medical park could eventually include specialties such as plastic surgery, oncology, neurosurgery and gastroenterology, according to the city. 

Edmiston said the need for more specialized care on the Gulf Coast became clear to him after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

“It just bothered me that we have such a great group of physicians all along the Gulf Coast, but we really don’t have a consolidated place, if you will, where you could put all these services,” Edmiston said.

Dave Hardy, who works at Lee Tractor next to the site, said many Gulf Coast residents travel to New Orleans or Mobile for specialized care and would likely use those services if they were available closer to home. 

“I’m sure there’s plenty of people that will be using it from that area,” Hardy said. “They’ll be happy that it’s closer by.” 

Creel said the city sees the medical park as a good fit because of residential growth north of Interstate 10. 

“These doctors have a grand vision for this area,” Creel said. “We think this is a great location for a medical facility, especially with all the residential development we’ve got going in north of I-10.”