The band hall behind the old Margaret Martin School building has structural problems and should be demolished, city Building Inspector Paul Dawes has told aldermen.

Roof leaks have now damaged the sides of the building, causing the walls to be structurally unsound, Dawes said. He estimates it would take $20,000 to demolish the building.

&uot;It would take $75,000 to $100,000 to take the top off the building, replace the masonry Š and replace the roof,&uot; Dawes said Wednesday. &uot;And that’s just to put it back weather tight.

&uot;To make it habitable, the second floor needs more support, and the electrical (system) would need to be completely redone. It would take close to $500,000, and what are you going to use (the building) for?&uot;

Still, alumni of the school &045; now used to house the Natchez Opera Festival and a handful of businesses &045; say tearing down the almost 80-year-old band hall, a state historic landmark along with the school building, would be a shame.

&uot;Whether you were in the band or not, it’s part of the school, and I’d sure hate to see them do that,&uot; said Class of 1943 member Barbara McKinley, one of a group of alumni who pushed for the school to be restored. &uot;Someone needs to try to do something to save it.&uot;

But Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, chairwoman of the Board of Aldermen’s Public Properties Committee, said the city is looking at several options for the property.

One of those options is to apply for grants to help repair the building.

Arceneaux-Mathis said that about two years ago, former Community Development Director James Johnston came to city officials with information about a grant that might be available to rehab the building.

She said she plans to ask new city Grants Coordinator Brett Brinegar to see whether such a grant is still available and, if so, what the city’s match would be.

&uot;At the time James Johnston brought it up, (that grant) called for a match. It was less than the $20,000 (demolition estimate), but the city didn’t have the match at the time,&uot; Arceneaux-Mathis said.

And in a February 2004 letter to the city Kenneth P’Pool, historic preservation director for the state Department of Archives and History, also notified the city of possible grant sources.

Some he mentioned included that department’s Community Heritage Preservation Grant Program.

Funding for planning the renovations might be available from the Certified Local Government grant program and/or the National Trust for Historic Preservation, P’Pool said.

In his letter, P’Pool asked the city to repair the roof and seal the building, &uot;mothballing&uot; it until future renovations could be made.

He praised the city’s work on the main school building but said he was &uot;disappointed to see how the old band hall is deteriorating, Š and would like to work with the city on saving (it),&uot; possibly for future use by the Natchez Opera Festival.

Where would a match for such grants come from? It depends on the amount, but Arceneaux-Mathis said some possible sources would include:

4Other grants, which she said Brinegar could check into.

4The city’s public properties budget. &uot;I’ll have to see how much is in it,&uot; Arceneaux-Mathis said. However, she said keeping a reserve in that account is wise, since unforeseen problems with other public properties could always come up.

4Using the interest generated by the $2 million the city received from the Mississippi Department of Transportation to help pay the match, if possible.

&uot;I was hoping to possibly use that interest for projects in Ward 1 like (improvements) to the Marblestone area or Zoa Street, but if it means losing a building, we’d have to take a look at it,&uot; Arceneaux-Mathis said.

Before the city could demolish the building, it would have to get a permit from Archives and History to do so. The next meetings of the department’s Board of Trustees and its Permit Board will be held in July.

Meanwhile, the city has installed caution tape around the old band hall to keep people from walking into what Dawes said is a building too hazardous to enter.

Another option city officials said they will explore is the possibility of selling the site, along with the adjacent football field property, to a private investor.

Alderman Jake Middleton said during Tuesday’s aldermen meeting that an investor was interested in the property a year ago. But he said that when he approached the board about the possible deal, he received no response.

Alderman said they would work to see whether that person or another investors might be interested in buying the property.