Meridian sells former police station; developer mum on plans

MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) - A former police station in Mississippi is being sold, and a developer is not yet revealing what he plans to put there.

The Meridian City Council voted Tuesday to sell the downtown structure to contractor Greg Creel for $35,000, the Meridian Star reported.

Creel said Wednesday that work on the building, including roof repairs, will begin soon.

Community development director Laura Carmichael told council members that the city received an appraisal showing $35,000 was the building’s fair market value.

The city council voted to sell the old police station in March 2018, but John Purdy, the owner of Threefoot Brewing Company, later decided not to pursue the $45,000 purchase of the building, citing ongoing litigation against the city.

Last fall, real estate broker Van Lewis expressed interest in using the former police station as an assisted living facility, but that plan did not move forward.

The new sale agreement says the building will return to city ownership if development does not occur within two years, according to Mayor Percy Bland.

“We’re just looking forward to the old police station complementing some of the other projects that we have going on,” Bland said. Purdy’s planned brewery is under construction in a former bank next to city hall, Bland said.

Architect Jerry Hobgood, who worked on the police building in 1974, said that he was pleased to learn the former station would get new life. Hobgood said he was partners with the building’s original architect, Chris Risher.

“I hope that the building is restored to its original grandeur,” Hobgood said.