Although minor repairs have been made to the former Petal Library building on East Central Avenue – which has sat vacant for several years – officials from the Petal Board of Aldermen are looking for a little bit more, more than a year after hearing the owner’s plans for the site.
During the February 21 board meeting, aldermen voted to give Jerry Dixson of Love Joy Peace Ministries, the organization that owns the building, 30 days to make substantial improvements. Dixson could not be present at the meeting because of family health issues; as such, he was represented by Danny Johnson, who has been working on blueprints of the building and said he would have more concrete plans by next week.
“I’m not finished with what I’m working on,” Johnson said. “(Dixson) wants to work with the city as much as possible. Pastor Dixson, he’s traveled all over the U.S. helping people who have lost their homes due to hurricanes and things, and he’s worked with a lot of churches and groups, trying to restore what people have lost.
“So he’s willing to do whatever (needs to be done) … and he’s very knowledgeable about what he’s capable of doing. The man is a great contractor – he taught me what I know – and I know he can make what needs to happen to this building happen.”
Johnson said he will talk to Dixson to relay to him the events of the meeting and begin to finalize plans. An update is expected at the next board meeting, which will take place March 7.
“Personally, I don’t mind giving them a little more time,” Ward 2 Alderman Steve Stringer said. “I’m one of those that I don’t want to see the building torn down – I’d rather see something done with it.
“It’s probably one of the only historical buildings we’ve got left here.”
Back in November 2021, Dixson – who has owned the building since 1996 – came before the board to let officials know his plans for rehabilitating the building, at least for the time being. Dixson said his first step would be to board up and paint the bottom windows of the building before replacing some of the other damaged wood on the cladding, which has since been accomplished.
He estimated that cost at approximately $200,000.
“That’s getting it into shape where I won’t say it’s ‘livable,’ or able to be occupied, but that will at least have it to where it’s presentable,” Dixson said at that meeting. “The shingles, I put them on after (Hurricane) Katrina, so those are good.
“I want to make it for the community, a community resource.”
Mayor Tony Ducker had previously expressed concerns about asbestos in the building, which he said could run upwards of $30,000 if the facility needed to be torn down.
“I think that will cause the expense of rehabbing the place to go up exponentially,” he said. “But if there’s some ways he can incorporate some of that that’s existing, and take the good parts of it and do that, I think he can save himself some money.
“But it’s still going to be a substantial endeavor for sure.”
According to www.deltacomputersystems.com, the last filed deed for the former library is from the year 2002. However, since 2016, the property has been sold to Greenvalley Investments LLC, GJ Tax Sale Properties LLC, Quicksilver Tax Funding LLC, Woodmark Investments LLC, and again to Greenvalley Investments LLC due to taxes being unpaid or delinquent.
The following individuals have redeemed taxes on the property over the course of those years:
- James Armstrong Jr. on Aug. 28, 2019;
- Jerry Dixson on Aug. 24, 2020;
- Jerry Dixson on Aug. 26, 2021; and
- Jerry and Marsha Dixson on August 30, 2022.
“I’m perfectly open to offer my assistance to this project, whether that be to y’all or to Mr. Dixson,” said Russell Archer, who serves as historic preservation planner for the City of Hattiesburg. “There are some very specific steps that make a lot of sense to take, with preserving a building. The key to that being successful, number one, is understanding what those key steps are and understanding what the cost involved is, and the willingness to go forward with that with a plan.
“Drawing up architectural plans seems to be a little bit of putting the cart ahead of the horse, because essentially, what this building needs at this point … is an architectural assessment. It needs someone who’s knowledgeable – it doesn’t necessarily have to be a structural engineer, just somebody who is knowledgeable about historical structures who can come in there, look at it in detail, and determine where the issues are.”
