[10/08/02]Construction of the new Home Depot off South Frontage Road near Halls Ferry Park is expected to begin by the first of next month if the weather permits.

The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted Monday to amend the city’s zoning code and to approve variances to the city’s subdivision ordinance to allow Ergon Properties of Jackson to sell the site to the home improvement company.

Ergon, which was awarded up to $900,000 in tax increment financing by the city board for the project, is nearly finished with the first phase of the development, said Jim Defoe, vice president of Ergon Properties.

“Weather’s got us right now, but we’re not very far off,” Defoe said.

The actions by the city board are necessary before Ergon can sell the property to Home Depot, which will build the 250,000-square-foot store that is expected to open in April. Ergon has been developing the 17-acre wooded tract since July, clearing and leveling the property that was mostly hills and valleys.

Before the store is built, plans call for a new road to be built that will allow access to the Home Depot and the park, Defoe said.

Plans also call for a second phase of development centering on the former Halls Ferry Elementary School, which Ergon purchased from the Vicksburg Warren School District in February for $451,000. Defoe said the 50-year-old building will be torn down to make room for a 50,000-square-foot retail shopping center.

Defoe said the school is expected to be demolished in the next couple of months.

Ergon is expected to spend about $17.7 million on the development.

The city TIF will fund road improvements, traffic signals and water and sewer lines. The money will be repaid over the next 10 years out of the $515,000 expected to be generated in local taxes by the development at a rate of $75,000 to $100,000 per year.

The home improvement store is expected to employ about 200 people and generate about $20 million in sales a year, according to numbers provided by Gouras Planning Consultants. Home Depot is the second-largest retailer in the nation, second to Wal-Mart.

TIF has been used by city and county boards for various projects, including River Region Medical Center, Vicksburg Factory Outlets and Wal-Mart SuperCenter.