Work on the downtown building that partially collapsed last month was delayed for insurance purposes, not because of a failure to begin work, said a contractor who was fired from the job this week.

Freddie Parson, owner of Parson Construction Co., predicted a court battle over the contract to stabilize and rebuild the old Thomas Furniture building, whose sections at 711 and 713 Clay toppled during cleaning on Jan. 25. Parson, who had crew members working in the building when it collapsed, was fired by the building’s owner, Preston Reuther, for waiting too long to start the cleanup approved by the city last week.

All of the workers inside the 140-year-old multistory masonry building, then slated to become an antique shopping mall and farmer’s market, escaped unharmed.

&#8220I’ve been on that building from the beginning, and I didn’t get paid for the week it collapsed,” said Parson. &#8220Why would I back out?”.

Before he could begin demolishing what remained of the collapsed sections, Parson said he was waiting on insurance for the property, which sits between the Adolph Rose Antiques and the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau buildings and across Clay Street from Trustmark Bank. Liability insurance is required by ordinance before the city can give the go-ahead for demolition on any commercial building, said Victor Gray-Lewis, head of city inspections.

Documents show Parson received a binder for $1 million general liability insurance on the building from Vicksburg Insurance Center on Friday, three days before he was fired by Reuther for failing to begin work on the project. Parson said he applied for the insurance on Feb. 15, and signed a contract with Reuther to demolish remaining structures on Feb. 17.

Parson said work began after he received the insurance on Friday – the day he moved piles of bricks in front of the building to a back lot. On the same day, Parson said, he hired Riverside Construction president Louie Miller, who is overseeing his company’s work on the damaged Adolph Rose property, to move a crane supporting a buttress beam he had erected on the night of the collapse and to replace it with a more permanent support. The beam was to help secure the structures at 707 and 709 Clay Street.

Parson said he planned to begin work on Monday after taking off the partly rainy weekend.

&#8220He hasn’t done anything…he hasn’t provided any services,” said Reuther, who confirmed Monday he had replaced Parson with two other Vicksburg contractors, Pete Buford and C.G. Ford.

Gray-Lewis said he had not yet received from Ford or Buford any notice of insurance or plans for stabilizing the structures, both of which are required before work can begin.

The City of Vicksburg rejected last week a proposal by Reuther and Parson that was based on a report by engineer John Madison. His proposal was to bring down the intact, abandoned structures at 707 and 709 Clay, which shared a wall and facade with the collapsed portions. The still-standing structures should be stabilized to prevent any further collapse before a decision is made on their fate, said the city Architectural Review Board in a decision backed by a unanimous vote of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Parson had just begun his six-step plan for stabilizing 707 and 709 Clay when he was fired.

Separately, Warren County Circuit Court records show Parson was indicted on a false pretense charge in November 2003 for failing to perform services or buy materials after accepting $13,800 from Charity Holm-Whaley, owner of Planters Hall, to do repair work on the historic site. The former Planters Bank branch and Confederate officers’ headquarters at 822 Main St. was built in 1834 and is one of the state’s oldest surviving brick buildings.

Parson’s trial, which has been pushed back several times, is scheduled for May 30, said District Attorney Gil Martin, who would not comment on the case or the reasons for delaying the trial.

Parson also was sued in civil court for two other construction jobs in 2003, when the suit was dismissed, and 2004, when a judge found for Parson and awarded a settlement for court costs.