OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — After more than two years of sitting empty, the Felix Long Memorial Hospital building’s fate is finally in the hands of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. But getting it there led to some division among county officials.
During Monday’s board of supervisors meeting, Ryan Ashford with Major Design Studios of Columbus presented updated demolition and construction estimates for the county to send to MDAH.
Those estimates ranged from $24.2 million for a complete 38,200 square-foot rebuild and $28.2 million for a partial renovation and new additions to the facility, which would total around 51,720 square feet, according to preliminary documents.
“What we’re asking for the board to approve today — these two estimates, one new, and one renovating the existing (building),” Ashford said. “… We’re ready to hear (MDAH) recommendations.”
County Administrator Delois Farmer said MDAH requested the county send estimates for both plans. The difference between them will be a factor as the department determines the future of the historic building, she said.
“Until we give them that, they’re not going to give us a direction,” Farmer said.
Built in 1950, the Felix Long Memorial Hospital began serving as a county office building after OCH Regional Medical Center opened in 1973.
After that, it housed the county’s Extension office, the Department of Human Services and Child Protective Services until those offices were moved in May 2022 to a county building on Lynn Lane. Felix Long has sat empty ever since.
The building is listed as part of the Downtown Starkville Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, therefore MDAH must approve changes to the structure.
The potential cost of the complex had grown since Ashford last presented plans to the board, since the square footage of the complex had gotten larger. The preliminary estimates also grew to include more accurate construction costs, he said.
“We updated those numbers to make sure they reflect the current market,” Ashford said.
Board attorney Rob Roberson, who also serves as District 43’s Republican representative in the Mississippi House of Representatives, told The Dispatch after the meeting the size of a potential building has grown because the needs of the county are growing.
The idea, he said, is for the site to become a justice complex that can serve the county long-term, with space for administrative work, as well as county court and justice court, and even possibly with space for circuit court.
“We are doing more court cases here in Oktibbeha County than Lowndes County is,” Roberson said. “We are growing exponentially in the need for space. Now, when we build this, we don’t need to build it for what we currently need. We need to build it for what we need 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now. Because we don’t want to put the expense out there, where the day we get in it, we’ve outgrown it.”
Roberson told The Dispatch in March the county has a $1 million appropriation from the last state legislative session, which he helped procure. But at that time, Roberson said he may “sit out a year” on requesting further funding until the county knows what it needs architecturally.
District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams and District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer tried to move forward with a vote to send the new documents presented by Ashford to MDAH. But the first vote ended in a split, with District 1 Supervisor Ben Carver and District 4 Supervisor Pattie Little voting against.
President Marvell Howard, who represents District 3, was absent Monday.
Little then expressed concerns about the amount of architectural work Major Design had already completed on the provided estimates, saying the board should not send designs without MDAH weighing in first.
“There’s just a lot of work going on and we’re not getting anywhere,” Little said. “We’ve still got a building standing there, and I don’t think this is what archives and history is needing to make a decision to tear it down or not.”
Instead, Little proposed sending the cover sheets with the estimates to MDAH without any of the design work, as she said that was all MDAH had requested to help make the decision of whether the building can be demolished or renovated.
Carver was concerned with how the project would be received by MDAH, unless the county followed up with the MDAH executive board.
“Who is leading this?” Carver asked. “Is Delois Farmer needing to accompany these documents, or does it need to be the board president? Who is the main point of contact?”
Farmer said she has had conversations with MDAH over email, which she also included the board on. She has had meetings over Zoom with MDAH, which she said board members were not present for, even though they were invited.
“Supervisor Carver, I’m going to make this statement with no disrespect,” Farmer said. “I’ve been in communication with them from the beginning. From the jump. What I encourage is some of the members of this board get involved. Get more involved. Start showing up more.”
Carver still suggested a board member go to Jackson to discuss the issue with the MDAH executive board. With the documents amended and the extra condition added, the supervisors voted unanimously to send the preliminary estimates to MDAH.
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