A South Street resident Monday asked the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen to consider taking action to get the owners of two buildings on South Street to fix their properties or tear them down.

Retired assistant Vicksburg fire Chief Tom Beard owns of Belle Fleur at 1123 South St., a house on the National Register of Historic Places.

He complains a nearby apartment complex and a two-story building across the street from his property are dilapidated and a haven for crime.

Deputy Chief Mitchell Dent said the police department had answered 40 calls at the apartments between January and Monday, including three drug complaints. He said all of the calls involved misdemeanor crimes.

The apartment complex, known as the Triple Six or the South Street Apartments, is a 41-unit apartment building at South and Locust streets. Buildings and inspection director Victor Gray-Lewis said 14 of the South Street Apartments apartments have been closed by the city due to their condition.

“About two weeks ago, a child fell through the floor in one of the buildings,” Beard said.

Fire Chief Charles Atkins said firefighters were called to the apartments in May after a 15-year-old boy fell through the bathroom floor of a second floor apartment. He said the teenager, whose name was not released, was taken to River Region Medical Center.

Gray-Lewis said city officials have been unable to contact a representative for Green Meadow LLC, which owns the apartment building. He said he is trying to contact the mortgage company which has the loan on the building to discuss a solution.

“We’re hoping we can do the same thing we were able to do with the Crawford Street Apartments,” he said.

The Terrace Apartments — formerly Crawford Arms — is a 20-unit apartment building at 1111 Crawford St. that has been sold to new owners who say they plan to renovate it. The building was set for demolition, but the board in March granted a 30-day extension to let the previous owners sell the building. No renovation work has begun.

The other building at 1122 South St., is owned by Dr. Bob Ford, a member of Keystone Ministries.

Beard said the building is across the street from his home and is in bad need of work.

“People are staying there. I look at it at night and see lights on, but there doesn’t seem to be any air conditioning,” he said.

Ford said it is home to eight men.

“We’re tying to do something to help the homeless,” he said. “We have people come in and stay a month or so until they find a job, then they leave.”

He said he is in the process of finding another building for the men, adding there are plans to repair the South Street building, but the scope of the work and when it will begin depends on how much money is available.

“We are a charitable organization and we are depending on donations,” he said.