The Board of Mayor and Alderman approved a motion to adopt and access the Kuhn Memorial Hospital property during their meeting Friday morning.

A former city hospital, the city sold Kuhn to the State of Mississippi in 1956 for $5, and the state operated the facility as a charity hospital, initially known as the Vicksburg Charity Hospital, until 1989, when Gov. Ray Mabus closed the state’s charity hospital. The city regained the property in 1990 under an agreement with the state to turn it over to a private corporation.

Since then a series of plans for the hospital have been announced such as a possible veterans home or adolescent psychiatric ward. The plans fell through, and in 2000, the company donated the building to the Esther Stewart Buford Foundation.

Nancy Thomas, attorney for the city of Vicksburg said the city is in the process of going through their slum clearance procedures and are concerned about the access the public has to the property.

“We have not been able to get in touch with anyone who owns the property or reportedly owns the property,” Thomas said.

She said the city is going to block the entrance to the hospital and the easement that leads to a city water tower until the property has gone through the slum clearance process.

The motion was passed unanimously and Mayor George Flaggs Jr. asked the Vicksburg Police Department to issue citations to anyone caught on the property for trespassing.

The hospital is now a topic of discussion because of the horrible abduction and murder of 69-year-old Sharen Wilson by Rafael McCloud, who has been charged with capital murder, sexual battery, rape, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, grand larceny, arson and home invasion.

Putting the property through a slum clearance process will allow the city to take over a building, demolish or renovate it, and sell the property to recover any costs.

Kuhn has been referred to as an eyesore for more than 20 years since the closing. The roof of the building is starting to collapse and the grass makes it look unpleasant. North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield wants to at least cut the grass on the property to make it presentable.