NATCHEZ, Miss. – City aldermen waived their right to purchase the old Britton & Koontz bank building, paving the way for new buyers to pursue their plans to renovate the Natchez landmark into a restaurant and bar.
Meeting Tuesday with the Natchez Board of Aldermen, Marty Buckman outlined his plans for the Main Street building, which has a provision attached that the city can offer to buy it whenever up for sale.
The privately owned building was formerly used by the city as a welcome center, and Natchez officials going back to 1994 have retained a “right-of-first-refusal” clause, according to Buckman and attorney Walter Brown. With city aldermen uninterested in acquiring the building, they voted Tuesday to give up rights to bid on it.
The building – constructed in 1833 as a financial institution – housed Britton & Koontz bank until it moved across the street in the 1980s to what’s now Home Bank.
Buckman – who noted he grew up in Brookhaven but has family roots in Natchez where he now lives – said he, his wife and son plan to convert the old bank into a restaurant and bar. He said they’re working closely with the Historic Natchez Foundation in restoring the building. It housed in recent years Receivable Solutions Specialists, a debt-collection company.
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The Board of Aldermen began the process Tuesday for Natchez to borrow $1.75 million to upgrade its six parks with a renovated golf course clubhouse and youth center along with new playground equipment, tennis courts, splash pad and other recreational offerings.
With this “recreation renewal” being pushed by Mayor Dan Gibson as a high priority since he took office in July, the board now has a concrete list to consider of what should be done for the parks. It includes spending $500,000 for restoring the deteriorated Duncan Park Golf Course clubhouse, $365,000 for the dilapidated North Natchez youth center and $82,000 each for new playground equipment at Duncan Park and North Natchez. Building a splash pad at Duncan Park and repairing the one at North Natchez is also on the list.
Aldermen on Tuesday began the process for borrowing the $1.75 million through a bond issue. They voted to hire a Jackson law firm to draw up documents for this.
With tax collections and other revenues coming into Natchez at a good clip, Gibson said, the city will be able to afford the estimated $110,000-a-year debt the city would have to pay to bond investors for 20 years. “The city is in good financial shape to do this,” the mayor said.
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