VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) - The City of Vicksburg is stepping up its efforts to deal with the old Kuhn Memorial Hospital in the aftermath of the abduction and slaying of Sharen Wilson, whose body was found on the 12.8-acre Kuhn property on June 28.
The Vicksburg Post reports (https://bit.ly/1UO2fTk ) the city decided Friday to block entrances to the property and put a fence around the former charity hospital site.
“We’re restricting all access to the property until we can demolish the property. It has become a crime scene, and it’s also an eyesore. We thought we would restrict it so it would not become another crime scene,” Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said.
City Attorney Nancy Thomas said the move came after city officials couldn’t contact the owner of the blighted property.
“We have not been able to get in touch with anyone who owns the property or reportedly owns the property,” Thomas said.
County tax records and deeds at the Warren County Chancery Clerk’s office provide no clear ownership of the property.
Under state law, the city must hold a hearing with the property owner and all people or companies with an interest in the property, in which a plan must be presented to renovate the building or tear it down. If no one attends the hearing or there is no plan, city officials can move to condemn the property and advertise for bids to raze it.
City officials and investors involved with the building are set to meet Aug. 24.
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.
In 1993, the building was considered as a possible veterans’ home, and in 1994, it was considered for a possible 38-bed adolescent psychiatric ward.
In 1999, the building was sold to the Lassiter-Studdard Group Inc., which planned to open a 100-bed clinic and assisted living center.
The plans fell through, and in 2000, the company donated the building to the Esther Stewart Buford Foundation.
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Information from: The Vicksburg Post, https://www.vicksburgpost.com
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