VCVB renting to city

Published 10:48 pm Sunday, February 18, 2018

The Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau will be leasing a section of its building on Walnut Street.

Its new tenant will be the city of Vicksburg.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen at its Tuesday meeting are expected to approve a lease with the VCVB to rent the bottom section of the building, which faces the west side of the Vicksburg Police Department and will serve as space for classrooms for officer training.

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The VCVB in 2016 moved into the top floor of 1619 Walnut St., located across from the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library and leased it from former Mayor Laurence Leyens. It bought the building from Leyens in early February for $320,000, VCVB executive director Bill Seratt said.

The building is the latest location for the bureau, which promotes and encourages tourism for Vicksburg and Warren County and markets the area’s attractions.

The VCVB was previously located in the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Depot, but left there after the 2016 winter flood and relocated to Walnut Street after a brief stay at the City Hall Annex.

Seratt said the city reimbursed the unused portion of $150,000 total rent the visitor’s bureau paid up front when the lease was signed in 2012; a total of $116,250, which helped make the down payment for the building.

“The rent we will receive from the city will help us pay the mortgage,” he said.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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