OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — Fran Brock remembers the mold.
The county coordinator for the Oktibbeha County Extension Service spent eight years working in the 73-year-old former Felix Long Memorial Hospital building downtown before county leaders moved her office last May, along with Human Services and several others, to a more adequate home on Lynn Lane — one that thankfully has heating and air conditioning.
“It was a very old building,” Brock said of the Felix Long facility. “… I can’t say it was bad because it was all we had. … It didn’t have any structural issues or anything. … But I can tell you this: It did have mold. And I think it was because of the leaks in the roof that were there years ago.”
Built in 1950 and dedicated to the son of the founder of Oktibbeha County Hospital who died working as a physician in World War II, the Felix Long Memorial Hospital began serving as a county office building after OCH Regional Medical Center opened in 1973.
Empty the last 11 months, the Felix Long building’s days are numbered. How high that number is, though, depends on the contaminants found inside.
The county has dedicated $500,000 in bonded debt to tear down the facility, board of supervisors president Orlando Trainer said.
Demolition has been delayed by assessments of the facility and likely contaminant abatements. The Golden Triangle Planning and Development District is using funds from a $500,000 Brownfield grant to pay for the assessments in two phases, GTPDD project analyst Phyllis Benson said.
The first phase of testing was a general fact-finding mission that cost “less than $10,000,” Benson said. The ongoing second phase involves chemically testing samples from the building, along with providing recommendations of how to move forward.
Once that is done, Benson said the county will probably have to worry about more than mold.
“We have determined that yes, there is asbestos in there,” Benson said. “We have sent those findings to the (Environmental Protection Agency’s) regional office in Atlanta, and they will give us permission to proceed forward with Phase 2, where we go more in detail and provide remediation recommendations and costs to the county.”
Ryan Ashford of Major Design Studios of Columbus, which is designing the demolition schematic and plans for a new county administration building design at the same site, said he can’t even estimate demolition costs or a timeline until he receives the study results from GTPDD.
Any asbestos, for example, would cost extra to safely remove before knocking down the building.
“We’ve been working on those (demolition) plans,” Ashford said. “They’re in progress. And depending on what comes back from the testing, that will be added to the plans.”
Major Design will receive 8% of the total demolition costs as its payment for the plan, said county board attorney Rob Roberson.
Demolition plans and when to do them
Ashford said the demolition plans will include site drawings, building size, environmental reports and instructions for how the lot should be left after demolition to help with future construction on the site.
But Ashford said any demolition plan for the Felix Long building would also be subject to Mississippi Department of Archives and History approval. The building is listed as part of the Downtown Starkville Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
It might sound odd to some to have an architect plan a demolition, but Ashford said it’s pretty common.
Kevin Stafford, city engineer for Columbus and North Mississippi manager for Neel-Schaffer, agreed. Though his firm isn’t involved with Felix Long, it has planned the pending demolition of the old McCarthy Gymnasium at Mississippi State University. While demolishing a small house might not need a schematic, he said, larger buildings or historic structures often do.
Future construction
A new building where Felix Long now stands is the county’s long-term plan, at least for now.
Delois Farmer, county administrator, said a new building would be designed to house the board of supervisors’ office and the county court.
The legislature this spring appropriated $1 million toward construction. Roberson, who is also District 43 State Representative, called the appropriation a “starting point.” County officials, at this point, have no hard estimates on total construction costs or how to fund the remainder.
Despite funding uncertainty and demolition delays, supervisors in April commissioned Major Design to complete a preliminary design plan.
“Now that we have some money from the state to move forward with this process … hopefully we can come up with a site plan to rebuild something,” Roberson said. “I didn’t know where we were going to get the money to do anything until we got the money from the state to move forward.”
Supervisors initially discussed using some of its $9.6 million of American Rescue Plan Act money, but the board ultimately spread that across various road projects, sewer upgrades and helping repair the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam.
Trainer said the board will seek a Congressional appropriation, grants and “loan dollars” that may apply to the project to fund the rest of the costs.
“I think it’s a top priority right now, and I can envision within the next term, or four years, that we may have the project completed and occupied,” Trainer said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion