A statue of a boy on a goat has made its way back to Oak Street after 100 years.

The monument, according to its history, was originally yard art at Cedar Grove Mansion, one of the largest antebellum mansions along the bluff between Washington Street and the Mississippi River.

Stacy Douglas said he grew up admiring it when it was in front of the Mulvihill home of George Culkin, former Warren County circuit clerk.

After Culkin died, Douglas bought the statue and has moved it to 2530 Oak for display at a house he and Kevin Beck purchased in June. The large, orange house was one Douglas, who splits his time between Vicksburg and New Orleans, said he always dreamed of living in.

It was built in the 1840s and before Douglas moved in, it had been vacant for about eight years and converted into apartments. It also had gone into foreclosure and needed saving.

&#8220I knew if somebody didn’t do it, it wasn’t going to last much longer,” he said.

Now, he’s taking it a step further. He purchased the lot next to him, where a fire had damaged a house in October, last week. After salvaging everything that could be used, Douglas hired workers to bulldoze the remnants of the home Wednesday to prepare for a driveway that will be built today at his new residence.

&#8220All that was part of the property at one time,” he said pointing to the debris from the demolition.

Douglas, 50, is an antique appraiser. He is also sprucing up the inside of the house to convert it back into a single-family residence, where he said he will retire in the next five years. His desire to live there, where his back porch overlooks a bend in the Mississippi River, is part of a bigger scheme.

&#8220Maybe it will encourage other people to buy property down here,” he said.

His plans dovetail with City Hall’s hopes for the area – a revitalization for the area that has been in the works for more than a year.

In December, Mayor Laurence Leyens and his board approved an urban renewal plan that will spend about $600,000 on sidewalks, street work, lighting and draining work in what is being called the Oak Street Corridor to spur private redevelopment of some of the city’s most desirable real estate.

As part of the plan, called the South Washington Street and Waterfront Redevelopment Plan, strict code enforcement is planned against owners of substandard homes and businesses in the defined area, which has been in decline for decades. That has attracted criticism that low-income people face constructive eviction and will have no place to go.

Another view is that the area, like some New Orleans neighborhoods, will have mixed-value properties ranging from mansions like Cedar Grove to large homes like the one Douglas has purchased to smaller and more affordable cottages.

Douglas has also taken it upon himself to renew his portion by excavating sidewalks in front of his house, planting flowers and cleaning up the property, not waiting for city action.

&#8220I hadn’t heard about the urban renewal,” he said. &#8220It was just a coincidence.”

Leyens has said the neighborhood, identified to include 400 or more private tracts along the Mississippi River between the Vicksburg Convention Center and DiamondJacks Casino, has been ignored for the past 50 years.

&#8220I’m thrilled he’s gone down there and made the investment,” Leyens said. &#8220That’s what this urban renewal plan is all about – to get people to come in and buy property to revitalize the neighborhood.”

Leyens said the city will step up and start improvements promised in December when the bonds are issued, which he said should be in 60 to 90 days.