Natchez board sells blighted hospital building uncertain what becomes of it

NATCHEZ, Miss. (March 11) – Mayor Dan Gibson said he’s uncertain what the new owners of the old Natchez General Hospital will do with the century-old building city officials agreed to sell today after years of being burdened with the blighted structure.

“We don’t know. We’ll see what they do,” Gibson said after the Board of Aldermen voted 3-2 to convey the Oak Street property to Ginger and James Hyland.

However, the mayor said whatever the Hylands do will be an improvement to the vacant, dilapidated structure. It’s has been the object of much controversy and litigation as city officials struggled to find a new use for what Gibson called “a condemned property in a horrible state of disrepair.”

The Hylands “are in a better position to do something” with the 1925 building that served as Natchez’ main hospital until 1960, when what’s now Merit Health Natchez was built. The Hylands ownThe Towers antebellum estate behind the old hospital.

The couple is giving the city $105,000 for the property, which Gibson noted was once part of The Towers estate before the medical facility was constructed as the Chamberlain-Rice Hospital 97 years ago.

A divided city board in 2017 voted for a medical foundation to get the building and convert it into apartments for elderly residents, but the deal was nullified in 2020 after Gibson became mayor.

The Hylands and more than 50 other Natchez residents protested against having apartments in their neighborhood. They sued the city to block the property deal, but the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 2020 threw out their challenge. The mayor then broke a 3-3 board tie in November 2020 to cancel the agreement with Magnolia Medical Foundation.

The city had acquired the old Natchez General Hospital in 2013 after the previous owner defaulted on paying property taxes. The building had in previous years been used as apartments and a Catholic Charities-run shelter for battered women.

Voting Friday to sell the old hospital were Natchez aldermen Dan Dillard, Valencia Hall and Ben Davis. Voting against the sale: Billie Joe Frazier and Felicia Irving. Alderman Sarah Carter Smith was absent from Friday’s vote but has previously backed selling it.

Davis’ vote in favor was a pivotal switch. He had previously voted against the sale, creating the tie that Gibson has had to break for the sale.

Aldermen voting against selling to the Hylands have maintained that Magnolia Medical Foundation should be allowed to pursue its plans to renovate the building. Foundation head Erica Thompson publicly presented plans to aldermen in 2017 to spend $3.4 million for converting it into 30 apartment units for elderly residents.

No public board discussions were held about what the Hylands could do with the building as the mayor and other city officials negotiated with them on the sale.

Gibson has refuted Frazier’s allegations that “pure racism” blocked Thompson, who’s black, from acquiring the property. The mayor has said he’s following the wishes of nearby residents against a multi-dwelling housing development being nestled with homes on Myrtle, Oak and Pearl streets.