Another 1,000 graves were found to the north of University Drive.

Costs of reburial are now $3,000 per body, which makes the $6 million reburial amount prohibitive. “We can’t afford that,” Dr. James Keeton, medical school dean, told the (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger.

Instead, the parking garage will be built on another site, and the university and the American Cancer Society are discussing a new site for the Hope Lodge, Mazurak says.

The Children’s Justice Center “has a significantly smaller footprint,” with about 7,000 sq ft on two floors, so there is a possibility it could be built on the planned site, he says.

Discussions “are still ongoing as to how to designate the graves” and what future uses will be made of the property, he says.