NATCHEZ &045; If all goes well, a contractor should be given a notice in early May to finish renovating Memorial Hall for use as a federal courthouse.

&uot;That’s the latest timeline we have&uot; from the U.S. General Services Administration, which is finishing the work, City Engineer David Gardner said recently.

Proposals from contractors are due to the GSA by March 17. The contract is set to be awarded April 14, with a notice given May 2 for the contractor to proceed.

The agency has advertised for proposals for the project on the Internet and in local and regional newspapers.

Shonda Piper, the GSA representative working most closely with the project, could not be reached for comment before press time.

Local officials have lobbied to lure a federal courthouse to Natchez since 1999, when they successfully persuaded Congress to pass a bill allowing Judge David Bramlette to request federal funding.

Work on renovation of historic Memorial Hall on Pearl Street as a federal courthouse started in late November 2003 with the city’s part of the project, including exterior work, painting and roof work.

About six months ago, the federal government sold the existing federal courthouse in Vicksburg to a third party and is now only leasing it for court proceedings until the Natchez courthouse can be completed.

Court officials have said the caseload and technological needs of the Western Division of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District warrant the move. Court Clerk J.T. Noblin has said the Vicksburg courthouse doesn’t provide the latest audio-visual equipment, including high-tech video displays.

It will provide up-to-date accommodations for jurors and witnesses and will have offices for U.S. marshals and holding cells and interview rooms for defendants.