[3/5/04]The former Battlefield Village mall has new owners who say they will move quickly to clean up the North Frontage Road complex targeted for demolition by two city administrations.

BancorpSouth Vicksburg Division president Dave Dickson said the bank finalized foreclosure on the property this week and that the bank is looking at several options for the property. He would not give specifics, but said they have talked to some developers interested in the 23-acre site.

“We want to act as quickly as we can,” Dickson said. “We’re certainly not going to sit idle on it.”

The former owners of the property, J&V Properties of Jackson, filed for bankruptcy last year and had been given until Jan. 13 to file a contract for its sale or lose it to the bank that held the note.

Before the bankruptcy, J&V had been in legal wrangles with the City of Vicksburg for five years over cleaning up the property or tearing down the main mall building and two outbuildings. City officials elected in 2001 made fixing up that property one of their top goals.

Dickson said they would work with the city to reach a speedy conclusion. City Attorney Nancy Thomas said the city will back off pending demolition orders, give the bank some time but did not say how much.

A hearing had been set for March 29 before Warren County Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick seeking to uphold a September decision by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to tear down the 42-year-old building.

The building has been declared unsafe for occupancy by city building inspectors, and the owners have been fined for failing to comply with city fire codes.

Battlefield Village was built as Vicksburg’s first all-weather shopping center and operated successfully until tenants began shifting to the new Pemberton Square that opened in 1985. The space was converted into U.S. Army Corps of Engineers offices, but they moved into their new office building on East Clay in 1996. The property, visible from Interstate 20, has largely been vacant since and was ultimately targeted for forced demolition at public expense with the cost attached to the deed.

A twin-cinema complex on the site was removed by J&V Properties, and a former Sears auto center has become a motorcycle and four-wheeler dealership. RiverHills Bank has a branch office on part of the former mall parking lot. Trustmark National Bank operates a branch on an adjacent tract.