[9/05/2001]The firm that operates the Vicksburg Convention Center will take over City Auditorium Oct. 1.

Compass Facility Management Inc. has been paid to manage the $13 million convention center since April under a contract negotiated by former Mayor Robert Walker’s administration. In July, shortly after Mayor Laurence Leyens was sworn into office, Leyens announced he wanted Compass to take over the auditorium, too. The city had operated the auditorium, dedicated to the memory of local soldiers, since it was built in the 1950s.

Tuesday, Leyens and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman voted to approve the added duties to the city’s contract with Compass.

North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young, who has had direct oversight of the auditorium for eight years, voted against the change.

Under the new deal, Compass will receive a fee of $2,000 a month. The deal will immediately start saving the city money, Leyens said.

“We will have a net cost saving of $85,000,” he said, pointing out the city has been paying an operational supplement for salaries and such of about $110,000 a year.

The auditorium had two employees. Artis Williams will be transferred to employment by Compass. Bobby Doyle will be transferred to another city job.

A second cost saving will come because the auditorium will be covered under the insurance carried by Compass and the city will no longer have to pay the policy premiums directly.

“It’s just the right thing to do, period,” Leyens said.

Young objected to the contract, saying the auditorium may no longer be available for a number of public-interest functions such as large funerals, meetings of the staff and faculty of the Vicksburg Warren School District, Veterans Day events, Memorial Day events, the Martin Luther King Day celebrations and others.

Although the auditorium has been operated under a variety of formal and informal policies, fee waivers have been routine for some groups. Young also said local government functions such as training sessions for Vicksburg police and fire departments, Civil Service tests, elections, emergency shelter and Section 8 Housing interviews could be adversely affected.

“I feel like it should stay under the control of the city,” Young said.

“All of those points are moot,” Leyens said. “The city will control it just as it does today.”

He said the city will continue to set the fees that are charged and establish the policies that govern auditorium rentals.

The convention center opened in August 1997 and has struggled to make ends meet. In addition to paying of bonds borrowed for construction, a general fund supplement of about $300,000 per year was needed to meet the Mulberry Street center’s annual overhead. Other revenue comes from rents, licensing fees and a 2 percent per night sales tax on rooms rented by hotels, motels and bed and breakfast inns.