TUPELO – A hot-button issue awaits new members of the City Council when they convene for their first meeting of the municipal term today.

Council members will be asked to consider designating the century-old Spain House as a local historic landmark. The designation will protect the house, located at West Main and Madison streets, from potential plans to demolish it.

“There’s a large constituency who are for the Spain House and some who are not for the Spain House preservation,” said BJ Teal, director of the city’s Department of Developmental Services during the council’s agenda-review session Monday at City Hall.

“I think it will be a very controversial issue,” she said.

It’s unlikely the council will vote on the matter today. Its appearance on the agenda is for study only. Unless the council changes the agenda, members likely won’t vote on it until their next meeting July 21. Or they could decide to keep it on the study agenda for awhile.

When it does consider the issue, the council likely will hold a public hearing before taking a vote, said city attorney John Hill. After that, the council gets final say on the matter.

The city’s Historic Preservation Commission considers the three-story Spain House one of Tupelo’s 10 most endangered properties.

It was built in 1910 by Tupelo pharmacist Robert L. Pound and his wife, Lucy Carter Pound, and had survived the deadly 1936 tornado before being sold to W.D. Spain and his wife, Letha Mefford Spain.

Today, the home is owned by Calvary Baptist Church, whose members want to give it away to whomever will move it so they can develop the site for other uses. Their offer to the city was rejected by former Mayor Ed Neelly, and church members still haven’t found another taker.

They’ve acknowledged that demolition is an option, although they said they’d hate to see the house torn down.

Members of the Historic Preservation Commission also don’t want to see the house destroyed. They voted last month to nominate the building a local historic landmark in order to protect it from such a fate.

“If the council votes, whether it’s a yes or no, there will be a six-month waiting period before the house can be demolished unless the commission says it’s OK,” said commission Chairman Michael Jones.

If the council votes yes, though, the house will be protected indefinitely.

Jones added that church members also contacted the commission and are willing to work together.

“They’ve been proactive in trying to find a good solution, at least a compromise,” Jones said. “That’s good news for us because they’ve already met us halfway.”

Other properties also on the agenda for consideration as local historic landmarks are the East Main Street Water Tower and the barn and silos of the former Forest Lake Farm in Ballard Park.

“I’m concerned about preserving historical properties, said Ward 4 Councilwoman Nettie Davis, in whose district the Spain House lies. “The Historic Preservation Commission is working hard. I’m going to be supportive of them.”

Contact Emily Le Coz at (662) 678-1588 or emily.lecoz@djournal.com.