Redevelopment of the Levee Street Depot by Kenneth R. Thompson Jr. Builder Inc. will begin Sept. 1, says a $1,535,000 contract bid awarded to the Greenwood company by the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen Friday.

“I know many people in the community have been anxiously awaiting some movement on that project,” Mayor Paul Winfield said. “We’re excited about getting it going.”

The long-vacant, city-owned building is to be transformed into a transportation museum on the ground floor, and office spaces for the Vicksburg Main Street Program and Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau on the second floor. The third floor will be used for storage.

The renovation will include making the 103-year-old depot American Disabilities Act compliant by installing ramps and an elevator. A 12 month completion date is outlined in the contract.

Kenneth R. Thompson was not the lowest bidder, rather just $2,000 above a bid submitted by McMillan-Pitts Construction company of Pearl. The bid by McMillan-Pitts — one of six opened Monday by the mayor and aldermen — was rejected by project architect Waycaster & Associates of Natchez because it was “deemed to be irregular,” Director of Buildings and Inspections Victor Gray-Lewis told the board.

“The bid did not meet or exceed the contract goal,” Gray-Lewis said, reading from a letter sent by Waycaster & Associates. “(McMillan-Pitts) did not submit with the proposal, information that adequate good faith efforts had been made to the meet the contract goal.”

Five of the six bids opened Monday came in under the architect’s $1.68 million estimate on the work, which is being paid for through $1.9 million in federal stimulus funds requiring no local match.

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Meeting Friday, in the absence of North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen:

• Recognized employment anniversaries of Larry Smith, 20 years, right of way; Janice Robinson, 15 years, water and gas administration; Beverly Prentiss, 15 years, police; Donald Brooks, 15 years, engineering; and Michael Walker, Andrew Rodgers and Derrick Stamps, all 15 years in the fire department.

• OK’d board meeting minutes from May 3.

• Accepted a check from Brown Bottling Group Inc. of Ridgeland for $18,800. Mayor Paul Winfield said the money will be used to purchase a new scoreboard for James “Fuzzy” Johnson Memorial Park on Mission 66. Brown Bottling Group, a Pepsi distributor, was awarded a contract for the city’s soft drink franchise in March, and company representatives told the mayor and aldermen the donation is to show they are committed to being a good corporate partner with the city.

• Awarded a bid for vehicle accessories to Fleet Safety Equipment Inc. of Memphis and Roper Supply Company of Picayune.

• Canceled a contract for Cedar Hill Cemetery grass cutting with Scallions Lawn Service of Vicksburg and forfeited the company’s five percent bid bond; and OK’d a new contract with Charles Scott Lawn Service of Yazoo City at $7,500 per cutting. Purchasing Director Tim Smith said Scallions could not meet the needs of the cemetery. Scallions had the contract — for $6,449 per cutting — since March 25, when original bid winner Holmes Lawn Care of Anguilla was unable to meet the contract needs it agreed to for $4,590 per cutting.

• OK’d the STOP Violence Against Women Program, which will be conducted through Vicksburg Municipal Court and provide for victims’ assistance and a new computer program to handle domestic abuse cases. A $30,012 grant will be combined with a $10,004 in-kind personnel match by the city. Haven House Family Shelter Inc. will provide victims’ assistance for the program, and receive $500 per month for nine months, says the contract.

• Gave the buildings and inspections department the OK to cut and clean properties found incompliant with property maintenance codes: 1905 Clay St., Hunt Street PPIN#015250, 1119 Fayette St., 219 N. Locust St., Togo Street PPIN#0105567 and 1729 Military Ave.

• OK’d an alternate route for the Miss Mississippi Pageant Parade, set for July 5. The route will begin at the Vicksburg Convention Center on Mulberry Street and proceed north on Washington, from Veto to China streets. The parade has in the past started on Veto Street near the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

• OK’d a letter to Kansas City Southern regarding street closures from 6:45 to 10:30 p.m. July 10 due to the Miss Mississippi Pageant: Levee at South, Levee at Depot, entrances to City Front at the floodwall, Pearl at Klein, Pearl at Speed, Water at Levee, Oak at Mulberry, Levee at both Horizon Casino railroad crossings and any other public street that crosses the railroad tracks between Pearl and Grove streets. South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman said the closures occur each year during pageant filming to keep train horns from blowing during filming at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Police officers will be stationed at the crossings and closed streets to direct traffic, he said.

• OK’d payments of $34,673.20 and $35,726.36 to Vicksburg-Warren 911 for the city’s 60 percent share of dispatchers salaries, matching benefits and insurance during May and June.

• OK’d the following additions to the employee driving list: Michelle Gaines, summer youth worker in the mayor’s office; and William Nettle in the TV23 department.

• OK’d a Trustmark Bank statement.

• OK’d amending the city’s open records request policy according to changes in state law. Instead of having 14 days to respond to requests, the city will now have seven days.

• OK’d the following monthly reports: city cemetery, privilege license, mayor and treasure, tax collection, delinquent tax collection, budget report and claims docket.

In closed session, the board:

• OK’d longevity pay raises for one employee in each the right of way department, water and gas administration, police and engineering departments, and three employees in the fire department.

• OK’d one transfer in the right of way department, from a labor position to equipment operator.

• OK’d one new hire in the water and gas administration department.

• OK’d one status change in the court services department, from full-time to part-time.

• OK’d one termination in each the recreation, sewer and gas departments.

• OK’d advertising one open position in each the gas and right of way departments.

The board is scheduled to meet next at 10 a.m. July 6 in room 109 of the City Hall Annex, 1415 Walnut St.

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Kenneth R. Thompson was the lowest of three bidders when proposals were first opened April 19. Those bids, however, were rejected because bid guidelines were not followed by two bidders and one came in above the architect estimate. Kenneth R. Thompson’s bid at that time was $1,450,000, or $85,000 less than the bid the company was awarded Friday.

The transportation museum has been in the works for about five years. About 1,500 books, a dozen model trains with 150 model rail cars and other exhibits have been donated to the museum, executive director Lamar Roberts has said. Some of the model steamships currently housed in Roberts’ Battlefield Museum on North Frontage Road will be moved to the new museum, plus aviation and railway displays and models are being designed.

The Battlefield Museum will remain open as normal until the transportation museum is complete, at which point Roberts has said the Battlefield museum primarily will feature military displays. He estimates the transportation museum will draw about 50,000 visitors annually.

The VCVB and Main Street have been displaced since the January 2006 collapse of a Clay Street building that potentially compromised the structural integrity of their shared headquarters at 1221 Washington St.

The VCVB has been conducting all of its official business in a manufactured building behind its visitor center at 3300 Clay St. since the collapse. Main Street had its offices located in the City Hall Annex until this spring, when it began renting office space at 1309 Washington St. The group, which has two full-time employees, has said it will move into the depot as soon as possible.

The VCVB is to give the city $150,000 toward the depot renovation project. Main Street, which is primarily funded by the city and a special tax assessed on commercial properties within the downtown district, is not being asked to contribute any funds. Both are to enter into a 20-year lease with the city and pay about $500 per month for rent and utilities.

The city bought the depot in 2002 for about $295,000 as part of Mayor Laurence Leyens’ urban renewal plan for City Front — which has seen the completion of the Riverfront Murals, Art Park and Splash Fountain at Catfish Row and a Junior Auxiliary river-themed playground.

Less than a block away from the depot at Washington and Jackson streets, the dry-docked MV Mississippi IV is to be transformed into a $16 million interpretive center and museum by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A spring 2011 completion date had been expected, but the project has been put on hold since a nearby March 26 land shift. Work is expected to resume on the project in the coming weeks.