ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 50 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 Leigh Mall parking lot repaving project begins and includes a large portion of the On Aug. 9 the city sent a letter Three-phase, $1M parking lot behind Hardee’s, be- to the owners that stated the con- project aims to fix gan Thursday. dition of the parking lot had be- “This has been a long time com- come a safety issue the city could code violations ing,” said Councilman Bill Gavin no longer ignore, according to of Ward 6, where Leigh Mall is Columbus Public Information Of- BY SLIM SMITH located. “I met with the owners ficer Joe Dillon.
[email protected] back in April and they assured In that letter, the city pointed me at that time there would be out 51 areas on the property that Work has begun on a long-await- some paving going on. They said were code violations, most of them ed repaving project in the Leigh the timeframe for that would be in potholes, and asked the owners to Mall parking area. September or October, so it looks begin the necessary repairs. Columbus officials say Secu- like they are following through on “We are very thankful for the rity National Properties, which what they told me.” work that is being done by the owns Leigh Mall, will invest more The condition of Leigh Mall, owner of Leigh Mall,” Mayor and in particular its parking lot, Robert Smith said in an email to- Deanna Robinson/Dispatch Staff than $1 million in a three-phase Paving crews continue mill work today on a section of the project that will take about a year has been a point of contention be- day.