A building donation that could be considered a possible location for the local Boys and Girls Club remains in the air as the vacant building’s appraised value has yet to be determined by senior officials.
Alderwoman Elizabeth Thomas presented the idea to the city council based on a seven-month communication with Phil Pope of Super 10 Enterprises, who owns the now-empty building at 508 North Washington Street in Yazoo City, the former Super 10 store.
“Back in January, I started a conversation with Mr. Pope,” Thomas said, during a previous Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting. “Last week, he reached back out, and he wanted to know if the city would accept $325,000 as the donated value of this property, which is the current asking price of the property. They needed to know if we were willing to accept it. This building would be the city of Yazoo City’s building.”
Board Attorney Lilli Evans-Bass advised the board to hold the vote until the next meeting to allow her time to review the necessary documents. During last week’s city council meeting, she advised city leaders that she spoke with the company’s legal counsel and senior vice president.
“I spoke with the actual general counsel and senior vice president of Variety Wholesalers, which is the company that Mr. Pope works for, and they want to appraise their building to get the value before they make the final determination as far as whether or not they are going to donate it to the city versus moving forward with selling,” Evans-Bass.
Thomas continued by making a motion to accept the donation pending acquiring the necessary documents.
“But you can’t legally do that,” replied Evans-Bass. “We can’t accept a donation that has not been formally donated. The senior vice president of this company has not formally donated it.”
Evans-Bass said Thomas has been working with the real estate administrator for the company, not senior officials.
“We have to have a formal donation in order to accept it,” Evans-Bass said. “Whether or not they donate the building will depend on the appraised value of the building.”
Pending the possible donation, Thomas said the building could serve as the possible new location of the Yazoo Chapter of the Boys and Girls Club. The local chapter of the Boys and Girls Club closed its doors at the former Yazoo City Junior High School in spring of 2024 due to safety concerns. Since then, the club’s operation and future have been in limbo as a new location is being scouted for the local chapter.
