1015 and 1019 Adams Street are two buildings in the city’s historic district that are creating problems for the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the city’s Board of Architectural Review, and they shouldn’t be.
Discussions about 1015 Adams, which is known as the “Verhine building,” and 1019 Adams, which is known as the old justice court, have been going on between the county and the city for 10 years, ever since the Board of Supervisors announced they planned to demolish the buildings in the historic district for some unknown purpose. In 2004 and 2005, the Board of Architectural Review basically gave the supervisors the OK to raze the buildings — an opportunity the county failed to take advantage of. When the supervisors came back in April and again in October seeking to take the buildings down, the Board of Architectural Review, citing the city’s historic preservation ordinance that prohibits razing contributing buildings in a historic district, denied the requests.
At the April hearing Board of Supervisors President Bill Lauderdale was chastised for not having the county take better care of the buildings.
The county appealed the October ruling to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, who on Monday took the appeal under advisement after a two-hour hearing to review testimony and evidence presented at the hearing. Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said he supported the delay because he hoped the city and county might still reach a compromise.
His view was criticized by Vicksburg lawyer Lee Davis Thames Sr., who reminded Flaggs that “you weren’t elected to be Solomon, you are elected to enforce the law.”
Thames’ observation was right. In this case, the board needs to back the Architectural Review Board and say “no” to taking the buildings down. As for the county, you had two chances to raze those buildings in 2004 and 2005, and it wasn’t done. It’s time to accept the board’s ruling and move on.