Battlefield Mall sits empty on North Frontage Road.(The Vicksburg Post/C. Todd Sherman)

[07/09/02]A representative of the Battlefield Village Mall property owners says they will appeal a demolition order for their building to Vicksburg officials and to circuit court if necessary.

The Vicksburg Board of Adjustments and Appeals denied a request Monday by J&V Properties for an additional 90 days to sell the vacant property on North Frontage Road.

Thomas Starling, a Jackson attorney representing Battlefield’s owners, had asked for more time before the city moves forward to level the mall at public expense and then enroll the cost plus a 25 percent administrative fee as a lien on the property’s deed.

“Mr. Starling, I’m sorry, but we cannot find any grounds to extend the order,” said David Roselle, a member of the lay board.

J&V Properties, the owner of what was Vicksburg’s first all-weather shopping center, had been granted a 180-day stay after city officials ordered the structure be repaired or torn down in November. That stay expired in June and work to take down three outparcels started, but has since stopped.

“The city’s position is that it’s just been sitting out there too long. It’s an eyesore and it’s a hazard,” said City Attorney Nancy Thomas.

Starling said J&V is in negotiations to sell the property. Two previous deals to buy it fell through when Home Depot selected a site on South Frontage Road, he said. Clearing of that area began last week.

“The owner is actively pursuing the disposal of the property through a sale,” Starling said. “I will get the time for my client.”

Decisions of the city’s lay board are advisory until ratified by the Mayor and Aldermen. Any vote by the three elected officials can be appealed to Warren County Circuit Court.

A Jackson contractor began work last month to take down three outparcels that surround Battlefield, but stopped after they were called off to another job. Starling said that since the city did not grant the extra time requested, J&V would likely call off that work. Two of the buildings were a former movie theater and a former Sears automotive service center.

Starling said that the buyer now looking at purchasing the property is interested in renovations for retail use.

“I’m thinking that within 60 days, or 90 days on the outside, we should have something binding,” Starling said.

After opening 41 years ago, Battlefield operated successfully until Pemberton Square opened in 1986. After most tenants left, the owners leased the former shopping areas for the General Services Adminsitration for use by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps employees, who were fleeing the condemned Walnut Towers building, still empty downtown, remained until six years ago when they moved to a new headquarters facility on East Clay. The property has been virtually unused since, although one portion of a parking area has been sold and a RiverHills Bank office erected on it.

The one-story brick mall is visible from Interstate 20 and has been under the scrutiny by city officials for a year. Mayor Laurence Leyens, who had committed to seeing the former mall site redeveloped by the end of his term, said he hopes to see the building torn down by the end of the year.

“I think the community has looked at it long enough,” Leyens said.