Public seating throughout downtown Vicksburg will be at a premium moving forward after Downtown Vicksburg and the city of Vicksburg decided to remove public benches from downtown.

The removal of the benches began Tuesday.

Kim Hopkins, director of Downtown Vicksburg Main Street, said the organization’s board of directors recommended having the benches removed and cleaned after receiving some complaints from merchants in downtown Vicksburg. She also said the benches were removed as a precaution as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“We did get some complaints from some of our merchants about the condition, cleanliness of some of the benches,” Hopkins said.

As for when the benches might return, Hopkins said it would depend on the state of the virus in the community.