OXFORD, N.C. — A community is fighting to keep the state from closing a mental hospital.

Monday night in Oxford, about 200 people gathered at an emergency meeting of the Granville County commissioners.

The meeting was held to try to figure out how to save John Umstead Mental Hospital, which needs $77 million in renovations.

The state has proposed shutting down the facility in Butner and Dorothea Dix Mental Hospital in Raleigh, which needs $83 million in renovations.

The idea is to close both facilities to make room for a new mental hospital in a central location, possibly in Chatham County.

However, those at the meeting suggested that the state build the new facility in Butner.

Umstead Hospital employs close to 1,400 people and would be a big blow to the economy if it closed.

There is no word on what Granville County's next step will be in keeping the facility open.