Eric Sloan with Environmental Abatement Inc. rides in a bucket truck this morning to attach a 50-ton Lima crane with a 130-foot boom to metal walls of Walnut Towers at 1500 Walnut St. Environmental Abatement general superintendent Mike Creasey said asbestos and bats had to be removed from the dilapidated structure before continuing the demolition, which should take about two months. The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen awarded a $538,000 contract in August to the Tennessee firm to remove the building that was once the home of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Plans are to leave the three-story parking garage on which the tower was constructed and reopen it to the public. The structure was built in the mid-1970s above the parking garage that was originally intended for downtown customers. Walnut Street from South to Walnut remains closed to traffic.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)