First Steps of VA Property Transfer to Gulfport Tuesday
by Keith Burton - GCN 11/3/08

The first official steps of the long-awaited transfer of the former Veterans Hospital property in Gulfport will take place Tuesday. The City Council is expected to adopt a resolution approving the transfer of the northern portion of the VA property. The action Tuesday by the council only begins the process.

According to a VA spokesperson who contacted GCN late Monday afternoon, the council's actions will be part of a series of meetings dealing with the back 50 acres where the VA's former laundry building is located. Formal signings of papers with appropriate city and VA officials will occur later, perhaps as soon as this week, but the VA spokesman could not say who would be representing the VA.

This week's actions do not include the transfer of the beachfront 42 acres. According to the VA spokesperson, who said he had attended a meeting on the property last week, the date of the transfer of the beachfront portion of the property is "still a bit vague," and that a date, even by the end of this year was unlikely.

Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr announced over two years ago that the city was to get the property. The Veterans Administration had decided to close the sprawling hospital site as part of a streamlining program and move its operations to other VA locations. That initial process was to eventually close the property by 2010, but hurricane Katrina sped up the process as the property was extensively damaged. (GCN photo left: Former VA laundry building)

Warr's father, Gene Warr was on the VA's closure committee back in 2004, well before his son Brent was elected mayor in 2005. The closure of the property has been a focus of the Warr administration from the inception of his election, and Mayor Warr has made several announcements of when the transfer would occur, which later did not materialize. GCN's previous story on the latest transfer announcement had Biloxi VA officials saying they had no knowledge of the transfer. Officials at the Biloxi VA say now that the transfer is being handled out of the VA's Washington office and information here is limited.

More Information:

Not Yet: When Will Gulfport Get the VA Property? - GCN