The city of Vicksburg is paying half the bill to for tests to determine repairs to a slide area at Riverfront Park.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday approved paying $26,400 to cover it share of the $52,800 bill from Burns Cooley Dennis of Jackson to test the slide area. The company will take six soil borings at the site, install and monitor inclinometers, which detect areas of movement, and test soil samples from the site.

City and county officials agreed to split the cost of the tests at a joint work session earlier this month.

The slide, which was reported in early April, is on the bluff at the southern end of the park and threatens the playground and its equipment. It has also forced officials to put a hold on planned improvements at the park, including resurfacing its access road and parking areas and adding additional parking space.

South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson said the decision to wait on the park improvements was a good decision.

“It’s better to spend this money now and find out what we’ve got than spend a lot of money making the changes and then find we have to spend more to fix the slide or find a new location for the park,” he said.

Under a grant agreement with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the city and county will have to find a new location with same acreage for a new park if Riverfront Park has to be closed.