The completion of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s takeover of the Vicksburg Chemical Plant and surrounding property is eminent, paving the way for the development of shopping, housing and a golf course on the closed plant’s former land, Vicksburg officials said Thursday.

Mayor Laurence Leyens said MDEQ Executive Director Charles Chisolm had confirmed the agency’s closing on the mostly vacant property, but MDEQ officials would not publicly confirm a finalized deal. Spokesman Robby Wilbur said he was &#8220optimistic” the closing would be done within the next few days, but would say only that the process is ongoing.

&#8220We’re still working out the details,” Wilbur said.

Leyens said the delay is due to &#8220bureaucratic holdups.”

&#8220I got a note on my desk from Charles Chisolm today that said it’s a done deal,” Leyens said Thursday.

Chisolm was unavailable for comment.

The property, 480 acres on both sides of Warrenton Road south of the river bridges near Rifle Range Road and U.S. 61 South, has been under MDEQ’s control since Vicksburg Chemical filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

When finalized, the move means the only hurdle left for the start of building on the property by Colorado-based developer Paul Bunge, who is also planning to build a casino and hotel along the Mississippi River, is the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, a step Bunge described as a formality.

&#8220The court is required to provide title to the utility as directed by MDEQ,” said Bunge. &#8220It’s not a matter of if, but when.”

As soon as he has the go-ahead, Bunge said, the Norwegian company Arcadis, which has American headquarters based in Denver and a Baton Rouge office set to work in Vicksburg, will handle the estimated $8 million cleanup on the 50 to 60 acres physically occupied by the former chemical plant, of which about 20 acres are contaminated. Bunge said that land could be used for a park, part of the golf course or as a distribution center for the British company Harcross Engineering, which could use some of the chemical plant’s old equipment to sell as spare parts.

&#8220We will not be putting residential or commercial facilities on the plant site,” said Bunge. &#8220That was never the intention.”

Bunge said he hopes to begin developing on the rest of the property as soon as next month. He’d &#8220rather not guess” on the final cost of the course, housing and commercial projects, he said, but is looking to complete the developments &#8220as quickly as possible.”

&#8220We’re going to throw a lot of effort into and we’re going to start as soon as we close,” Bunge said. &#8220

The addition of a high end golf course has been one of the Leyens administration’s priorities since he took office in 2001. After several unsuccessful efforts with other developers, the city reached an agreement in November with Bunge to build a course, to be called Mississippi Bluffs, on the property currently occupied by the closed plant. The course will come with a price tag of $6 million to $12 million, Bunge said, depending on the scope of the project. The higher estimate depends on the addition of a high-profile golf name to attach to the course.

&#8220We’re really excited about it,” Leyens said. The property &#8220is a negative the way it’s sitting right now. We started this literally from Day One four years ago. There’s been a lot of bureaucracy.”