Downtown property owner, city officials in fight over Washington Street building|[02/17/07]

Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 17, 2007

The owner of a Washington Street building that once housed an ice cream parlor has filed a petition in Warren County Circuit Court to stop Vicksburg officials from razing the property, court records show.

Vickie Bailey owns the building at 2627 Washington St. During its roughly 80-year history, the property also was a laundromat.

The building, city officials say, needs to be demolished or repaired. Meanwhile, Bailey has asked the city for more time to bring the building to code while litigation is pending against the building’s mortgage-holder or insurance company to obtain funds for a planned renovation.

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But Mayor Laurence Leyens says Bailey has had plenty of time to bring the building to code, and he’s tired of waiting.

&#8220I think it’s a ridiculous lawsuit,” Leyens said. &#8220We have a building that is in jeopardy of falling and hurting somebody. For two years, we have been processing demolition. She keeps saying she needs more time, and we have given her more time.”

Bailey’s attorney, Toni W. Terrett, declined comment. &#8220I’d rather not talk about that right now,” she said.

In January, Bailey, a former city employee and twice a candidate for alderman, was given 30 days to take action to keep the building from being torn down by the city. But nothing has been done, Leyens said.

&#8220Either she is going to take full responsibility of the outcome, or we will put the building in compliance. No one has made any commitments to resolve the building crisis – period.”

The roof is in disrepair and could collapse onto the street below, Leyens said. He shrugged off Bailey’s injunction request.

&#8220Her lawsuit doesn’t even say that if she wins she is going to fix the building,” he said. &#8220Nothing’s in there.”

Former owners of the building have said the property is known as the Sutton Ice Cream building, for the ice-cream parlor that occupied it until the early 1960s.

After that business closed, the building was a laundromat called the Sunshine Center, James McGee, former co-owner of the building from about 1976 until 1987, has said.

Cloud Sheet Metal and an engineering business were also operated from the back of the building, another former owner, Dot McGee, has said.