Vicksburg’s role in the fate of the downtown building that partially collapsed in January could be decided Friday, officials said this morning.

Mayor Laurence Leyens has said the city can take over the property under its slum clearance ordinance, but under instruction from City Attorney Nancy Thomas would not comment on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s impending decision following the board’s regular meeting Monday.

&#8220We have two options, and we think we know which one we’re going to go with,” Leyens said after adjourning a closed meeting Monday until this morning.

This morning’s meeting ended without a decision, and Friday’s meeting was scheduled.

The board’s decision would come just over a week after the expiration of a deadline set by the city for the owners of the old Thomas Furniture building, Preston and Mary Reuther, to submit plans through their contractors for stabilizing still-standing portions at 707 and 709 Clay St. and demolishing the collapsed remnants of 711 and 713 Clay.

Preston Reuther said his contractors, C.G. Ford and Pete Buford, both of Vicksburg, were unable to get the insurance required to begin work on the property. Another contractor, Freddie Parson, obtained insurance but was fired from the project days later, on Feb. 27.

&#8220We tried to do whatever we could do” to get the necessary paperwork to begin work, Reuther said Monday, adding for the second time in just more than a week that a lawsuit could be forthcoming in a matter of days. He would not elaborate on the nature of the suit, who might be named as defendants or his plans relating to the collapsed property.

In the face of prospective litigation, whether a case is filed or not, state law allows public officials to close their discussions as a matter of choice. Closure is not required.

The Reuthers had planned on converting the former Thomas Furniture Store into an antique mall, and the multistory masonry structure was being cleaned when it collapsed. Workers were in the building, but escaped unharmed.