[4/30/04]A potential deal to sell the vacant ParkView Regional Medical Center building is in the works with the possibility of the property being used for housing of the elderly.

River Region CEO Phillip Clendenin told 31 members of the Wildwood Neighborhood Association Thursday night that a potential investor has signed a letter of intent to purchase the building. He said he could not yet identify the investor, but that they are moving quickly toward striking a deal.

“I’m hopeful this works out because it has been the first viable opportunity to move forward,” Clendenin said.

Wildwood is the residential area developed along with the hospital complex in the 1950s. Homeowners have worried property values would fall since the medical center was left vacant in February 2002.

Clendenin said the hospital will continue to operate Street Clinic and Marion Hill Chemical Dependency Center at the site as part of any deal. He also said the investor will likely find multiple uses for the property including an assisted-living facility.

River Region moved to a new location off U.S. 61 North, also taking ER, surgery and most in-patient services from the Vicksburg Medical Center complex on North Frontage Road.

Initial discussions with Alcorn State University were held for the ParkView building, but Clendenin said that deal “fizzled out” because university officials did not want the entire building.

“It’s a unique building and it’s going to take the right person to use it,” he said.

There are about 99 homes in Wildwood, and the association has worked to keep residents informed.

The investors, “are very interested in making sure that whatever they do fits into the community,” Clendenin said.

The 26-acre complex on Grove Street had 230 patient beds plus offices, diagnostic areas and surgical suites. River Region has continued to maintain the property and has fenced off the hospital to prevent vandalism.

Clendenin could not say when he believes a deal for the hospital will be completed. He also said the corporation has no date set for demolition and plans to continue pursuing the building’s sale.

When plans for the new hospital were announced, the Nashville-based owners of the medical center pledged the building would be sold or removed but would not be allowed to sit empty and deteriorate. Since then, Quorum Inc. sold River Region Health System to Dallas-based Triad Inc.

Members of the neighborhood association also discussed plans to place a church on a vacant parking lot adjacent to the Vicksburg Cancer Center on Grove Street and two missing neighborhood signs. The association members voted to buy an advertisement offering a $50 reward for the signs.