Firefighter and EMT Vernon Wolfe walks to an ambulance Monday at the former Ellis Appliance Repair building on Walnut Street.(Meredith Spencer The Vicksburg Post)

[5/25/04]A three-year saga to get a downtown building in use by the city is over.

Three city departments fire, safety and police are now sharing space in the former Ellis Appliance Repair building at 1617 Walnut St.

The move is part of a strategy to streamline operations by putting city departments in a central location and using fewer buildings, North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young said.

The building is between Vicksburg Police Department and Vicksburg Fire Department headquarters.

Members of the city board in 2001 voted to spend $152,800 for the 8,378-square-foot building and said it would be used as an indoor firing range, offices and evidence storage area for police.

Then-Alderman Sam Habeeb criticized the purchase, pointing to an appraised value of $75,000. Also raising eyebrows has been the $348,000 spent on renovations.

The June 2002 discovery of battery acid contamination threw plans awry until a year ago, when police started using part of the building. Police now have a weight room, two classrooms and store property and evidence in their share of the building. A firing range is no longer in the department’s plans, Deputy Chief Richard O’Bannon said.

Fire Chief Keith Rogers said the building has added efficiency by serving as the medical supply station for ambulances and for record storage.

The previous supply location the old Station No. 8 on Halls Ferry Road is now used as a backup 911 call center and storage facility. The department does not use it on a regular basis, Rogers said.

The Safety Department moved in two weeks ago, said Human Resources Director Lamar Horton, who supervises safety employees, who had been in another former retail store at 1401 Clay St.

“We had no parking at the old location,” Horton said. “It’s also more convenient to public employees.”

Safety has three employees: a nurse, safety director and safety specialist. Drug tests for city employees will also be conducted at the building.

Young, who has said selling city-owned buildings is a priority for her, said the city is waiting to receive an appraisal on the Clay Street property, formerly Southern Printing Co., before it advertises bids for the property in a month. A buyer may also agree to split the cost of three appraisals with the city and pay the average of those appraisals, Young said. Either way, she expects the property to be an easy sell for the city.

“We’ve had three or four inquiries already. It’s prime commercial property. It’s got 15,000 people a day traveling by it,” Young said.

The Maintenance Department, which was also in the Clay Street building, is renovating a building on Army-Navy Drive, which will become its new headquarters. The department has spent a little less than $30,000 renovating those buildings, not counting labor costs.

The Street and Right of Way departments are also moving to buildings on Army-Navy Drive. Their previous home on Washington Street will be razed and the property will be sold, Young said.