NATCHEZ &045;&045; The U.S. General Services Administration is staying mum about the details of bidding for the renovation of Memorial Hall as a federal courthouse.

Earlier this week Brenda Owens, Atlanta-based contracting officer for the project, said the GSA has not reached an agreement with a contractor to handle that agency’s part of the project, and therefore would not yet give out the names of contractors who bid on the project or the amounts they bid.

According to the federal Freedom of Information Act, U.S. government agencies do not have to release such information before it accepts one of the bids.

&uot;We’ve established a competitive range&uot; of acceptable bids but not yet accepted one of those bids, Owens said.

What’ s the timeline for selecting a bid and giving a contractor the notice to proceed? Owens wouldn’t say, adding only that &uot;we’re working very diligently&uot; toward that goal.

However, City Engineer David Gardner said a few weeks ago that contract negotiations should be finished by the end of July.

Contractors hired by the GSA will work on the inside of the building, including walls, plumbing, air conditioning, electrical, duct work, security and elevators, which should take 16 months.

High-tech audio-visual equipment will be installed in the courtroom. There will be up-to-date accommodations for jurors and witnesses and holding cells and interview rooms for defendants, as well as offices for U.S. marshals.

The first part of the project, from gutting unusable parts of the building to removing old wiring and plumbing to installing a new roof and restoring stucco, was started in November 2003 and finished last summer by the city.

Once the project is completed, the Administrative Office of the Courts will maintain the building.