The Mississippi Public Procurement Review Board approved a $4.375 million contract to demolish the Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel in Jackson at its monthly meeting Wednesday.
The state acquired the property in 2019 and announced that it intended to demolish the historic property for use as a parking lot for state employees. In January 2020, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History designated the Sun-n-Sand as a Mississippi Historic Landmark but approved the demolition of the structure.
The state will preserve the hotel’s iconic sign and ballroom as part of the contract. The contract includes stabilization of the ballroom structure, which will be retained as meeting space.
Shafer-Zahner-Zahner, PLLC of Starkville will execute the contract, which includes demolition, paving and landscaping of the parking lot. The contract had to be brought to the PRRB since professional fees for the contract exceeded the statutory limit of $250,000, coming in at $318,195.
The board also approved a $10.5 million renovation of the Robert E. Smith School of Nursing Building at Delta State University.
The board also approved a $100,000 single-source contract for the state Department of Health to provide a comprehensive review of the state’s Health Plan, which is required under the state’s certificate of need laws. MSDH wants to conduct the procurement with a request for procurement process since it wants to competitively evaluate the expertise of the potential vendors, something that can’t be done in a conventional bidding process.
The board also issued two exemptions from state bidding laws for school districts participating in the E-Rate program. The E-Rate program is a Federal Communications Commission program for the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, which provides affordable broadband access to schools and libraries nationwide.
Discounts for support of the service are dependent on whether the school or library is in an impoverished area and whether that area is urban or rural.
The Leake County School District received an exemption on a $450,000 contract, while the Claiborne County School District did so on a contract for more than $258,000.
A $7.85 million contract to renovate and repair the War Memorial Building in Jackson was approved by the board.
The board also approved a $3.7 million contract to upgrade the Robert E. Lee Building in Jackson to accommodate the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
The Mississippi Department of Medicaid had its $19.99 million contract with Alliant Health Solutions renewed for another year at $4.4 million. Alliant conducts authorization and repayment review of claims for Medicaid and the original three-year contract will be in its first optional renewal period.
