[02/16/01] Halls Ferry Elementary, vacant for nearly two years, is likely to stay that way for a while longer.

Vicksburg Warren County School District Superintendent Donald Oakes said this week he has no scheduled plans to advertise for bids to sell either Halls Ferry or Culkin Elementary.

“We’d love to go ahead and get rid of both of them,” Oakes said, but noted that the district wants to know if there is legitimate interest in the schools before it advertises for bids again.

Halls Ferry, built in 1954, and Cedars, built in 1959, were advertised for bids in June. However, Culkin, built in 1942, was not put up for bids due to an error in the legal description of the property, Oakes said. After the bids were received, Cedars was sold to Head Start for around $25,000, he said, and the high bid of $175,000 on Halls Ferry was turned down because the district hoped to get more for the building.

“The biggest concern was because of the location of the property,” Oakes said.

The school is at Halls Ferry Road and Pemberton Boulevard, one of the city’s busiest intersections, and the property abuts Halls Ferry Park, a city recreation complex that includes baseball and softball fields and tennis courts.

Oakes said Jim Chaney, the district’s attorney, announced at the board of trustees meeting Thursday night that he had received a few calls about the buildings. No action was taken at the meeting.

In May 1999, five elementaries Culkin, Bovina, Cedars, Grove Street and Halls Ferry were closed under the district’s School Choice plan.

Bovina was vacant for a year before it became the district’s Center for Alternative Programs. Grove Street became home to the district’s parenting and media centers immediately after the school closed in 1999. Culkin is used for storage and as a voting precinct.

The district’s 5,300 elementary students now attend Bowmar, Warrenton, South Park, Beechwood, Redwood or one of two new schools, Sherman Avenue and Dana Road, which opened in August 1999. The district’s fifth- and sixth-graders attend Warren Central Intermediate and Vicksburg Intermediate, housed at Sherman Avenue and Dana Road.

School officials pledged to use or maintain the older buildings, saying they would not become derelicts and eyesores as Carr Central on Cherry Street has become. Carr was owned by the City of Vicksburg until sold to a private developer nearly two years ago.