NATCHEZ &045;&045; Saying the state Department of Archives and History is being used &uot;as a tool to prevent economic development,&uot; Mayor Phillip West said he believes the pecan factory must be demolished.

&uot;My intent is to have a $20 million condo investment in the City of Natchez,&uot; West said Friday evening. &uot;I believe we will have to have the pecan factory demolished with or without the support of Archives and History.&uot;

The bluff-top location is the site of a proposed condo development whose design has been the subject of controversy over the past two weeks.

West would not give a timeframe for when the building would be torn down, saying only &uot;as soon as we can.&uot; But a Natchez Water Works employee at the site Friday said it would be demolished today.

Water Works employees were cutting off the water supply to the site Friday, while Public Works crews were helping remove materials from the building.

The Department of Archives and History had no comment on the issue Friday, but earlier this week the department’s director of preservation, Ken P’Pool, said Archives and History is looking into the historic nature of the former Natchez Pecan Shelling Co. building.

West said he believes it is &uot;debatable&uot; whether the city needs Archives and History approval before tearing down the building.

&uot;That’s the way laws are,&uot; he said. &uot;It depends on your interpretation of the law.&uot;

West said the building should have been torn down years ago.

&uot;It has no historical significance,&uot; he said. &uot;Archives and History is being used as a tool to prevent economic development in Natchez. They have not been given the authority.&uot;

The Natchez Preservation Commission has twice tabled the proposed design of condo complex being developed by Larry Brown and Ed Worley, noting it does not meet the standards of the city’s preservation ordinance, which calls for new construction in historic districts to be &uot;visually comparable with the buildings and environment with which the new construction is visually related.&uot;

The first plan for the condos called for six stories, although the developers later said they would cut it to five.

But last week aldermen proposed an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance allowing buildings downtown to be built up to 75 feet tall, up from 38 feet. That amendment must first go through an approvals process that includes a recommendation from the Planning Commission and a public hearing.