Conditional approval has been granted for tax breaks to help redevelop the former Battlefield Village mall site into auto dealerships.

The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted Monday to give the green light to the owners’ request for tax abatement. If final approval is given, it would mean that the city property taxes would remain level for the next seven years.

J.E. “Brother” Blackburn of Blackburn Motor Company bought the North Frontage Road property and cleared the site this year.

In its place, he plans to build four buildings to house a Chrysler dealership, a Nissan dealership, a body shop and a used car sales office.

“Everybody in this community was so tired of watching Battlefield mall fall down on itself,” said Mayor Laurence Leyens. “And I just can’t thank Brother Blackburn and his son enough for this.”

City officials say the investment will run into the millions of dollars, but most importantly the development will clean up a long-time eyesore along the interstate.

The mall complex was Vicksburg’s first all-weather shopping center and had been vacant and deteriorating since 1996. Today, city taxes on that 23-acre site are $300 per year.

The abatement program approved last year by the city offers tax breaks for up to seven years on redevelopment, but only excludes city taxes. The property owners are still responsible for any increase in school taxes.

Blackburn has also met with county supervisors to request an exemption on the county taxes on that property.

In other matters the city board: