NATCHEZ, Miss. – The mayor and Natchez aldermen heard a report Tuesday about environmental assessments of various deteriorated properties that include the old IP site, Eola hotel and Tracetown shopping center to potentially redevelop for new commercial ventures.
The assessments were paid for with a $492,000 federal grant Natchez received in 2021 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Evaluations were done to determine the existence of hazardous materials to remove so the buildings might be redeveloped into more commercially viable properties.
Asbestos and underground fuel tanks are among the environmental threats, according to Trey Hess, the environmental engineer hired by the city to do the site evaluations.
They include the old International Paper mill property on Carthage Point and Lower Woodville roads, Tracetown on Seargent Prentiss Drive, the Eola on Main and Pearl streets along with the adjacent Fry building, the Kimbrell/Darby’s building on Main, Magnolia Mall on Devereaux Drive and the Triangle gas station at St. Catherine and Martin Luther King streets.
The $492,000 federal “Brownfields” grant Natchez got in 2021 paid for analyzing any pollution and the clean-up costs for rehabilitating the properties for potential new uses.
EPA awarded the city another $1.1 million Brownfields grant in 2023 for cleaning up the polluted Fry building site. Razing the structure is considered essential for developers’ long-stalled plans to renovate and reopen the now-closed Eola hotel. The Fry building site at Pearl and Franklin streets is contaminated with hazardous asbestos and other pollutants, according to an EPA report.
The buildings at Tracetown have recently housed a few businesses, medical clinics and a U.S. Post Office but are largely vacant. A proposal to redevelop the old shopping center into a medical complex was presented to city officials in 2022.
Hess expressed confidence Tuesday that Natchez can be awarded another EPA grant to assess other properties, such the old Carpet Sales & Service building on State and Broadway streets.
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