The Meridian City Council is hoping to see progress being made on demolishing the historic E.F. Young Hotel after hearing from the property’s owner.

The city closed a section of 25th Avenue in September citing concerns the aging building could collapse into the street.

In a work session Tuesday, the council heard from Arthur Young, one of the owners of the hotel, about the ongoing efforts to make the building safe. Young said the hotel’s owners were working with neighboring business owners, contractors and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to understand the different solutions and costs that were available.

“We’re waiting on a reply from some contractors now so we can start looking at some number,” he said. “And we are continuing our talks on what we can do about that moving forward with how to decide on the demolition and renovation and progress as far as business opportunities considering that piece of property.”

Young said he had also been in contact with James Copeland, who owns the adjoining event venue “The Ruins,” which has been forced to close due to the street closure and its shared wall with the E.F. Young Hotel.

“I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with our next door neighbor Mr. Copeland, and we are in further talks about how to handle that situation,” he said.

The Young Hotel owners are working diligently to find a solution that will work for both them and the city, Young said, but it is too early to know exactly what that solution will entail.

“I don’t have any definite answers for this body today on such a major project,” he said. “These things take a little time and there are a lot of moving parts.”

Community Development Director Craig Hitt said some haste in reaching a solution was necessary as the building has continued to deteriorate since it was closed.

Additional signs of stress have appeared on the structure, he said, and it is not clear how much longer the building will stand on its own.

“It was just brought to our attention about three weeks ago now it appears, we’re not engineers, but it appears that the building has shifted more than it had previously,” he said. “There are additional cracks in the exterior walls that we had not seen before, and we’re very much concerned the building could come down at any time.”

The council suggested setting a 45 day deadline for the hotel owners to meet, go over their options and develop a plan. If there is still no movement on securing the structure, the city will move forward with condemning the building.