Coliseum director explains why hosting Nolan Wells’ funeral would have cost $82K
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Coliseum quoted an $82,111 estimate to host Nolan Xavier Wells’ funeral.
- Mississippi law prevents the coliseum from abbreviating charges for the event.
- Wells’ parents declined the coliseum offer and chose an Ocean Springs Church.
The Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center offered to host funeral services for 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells of Ocean Springs, whose mysterious death has attracted national attention, but the estimated cost was $82,111.
Mississippi law does not allow the public facility to reduce charges, Executive Director Sam Voisin said.
Wells’ parents ultimately declined the offer. They plan to hold the service Monday at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs.
The cost included “all rental, equipment, staffing and services such as security, traffic control, production, staging, staffing, rigging, stagehands, set up, tear down, cleaning, audio/video screens, ushers, etc,” Voisin said.
The cost also included parking, so guests would not have to be charged at the gate.
Prices were based on a public event with attendance “of potentially 5,000 people,” Voisin said.
Planning for funeral of Nolan Wells
A contact working on Wells’ funeral arrangements called coliseum officials Monday morning about the possibility of holding services there. The coliseum’s commission approved hosting the funeral, if the staff could work out logistics, at a special meeting that afternoon.
Commissioners felt hosting the event would help unify the community.
The coliseum has faced online criticism over the price quoted for the young man’s services.
The case has gained national notoriety, with filmmaker Tyler Perry stepping in to cover funeral expenses, and former professional football player and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick paying independent autopsy costs.
Nationally prominent attorney Ben Crump is representing Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, in their quest to determine why their Black son died after spending July Fourth on Horn Island with a predominantly white crowd. His body washed up two days later on the island’s shoreline.
“Each event is unique in nature,” Voisin said in an email. “These costs are consistent with other large-scale events requiring similar services at the coliseum. Some have compared this event to high school graduations hosted at the coliseum.
“This is not comparable due to nature, complexity, and high-profile needs of this event. While we support the family and grieve with the community, we are prohibited from abbreviating charges by state law.”
