Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 7, 1993 TAG: 9301070165
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
REMAINING AT&T PROPERTY TO BECOME INDUSTRIAL PARK
Pulaski County will buy the remaining AT&T site property at Fairlawn for $1.3 million for development as an industrial park.The purchase covers about 650 acres of open land in the central part of the New River Valley region. Pulaski County officials hope to develop it together with other valley localities as a regional park.
The Pulaski County Board of Supervisors approved the purchase Tuesday night. Of the $1.3 million price, $300,000 is to be financed over two years.
The county will use a $25,000 Rural Economic Development grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to design utility, grading and road extensions needed to develop the site. It also is seeking up to $2 million in federal funds to build the improvements.
"The ability to utilize these funds in the development of this property will allow the New River Valley to better compete with other regions in reselling developed sites to firms expanding or locating in the region," said Jerry White, supervisors' chairman.
"The need to develop industrial property has been further brought to light by the planned layoffs at the Radford Army Ammunition plant," he said. "The layoff of 730 persons at the RAAP, combined with the reuse of the AT&T building by New River Industries, results in a shortage of sites and buildings at which to re-employ residents affected by this and other layoffs."
The number of jobs lost at the Radford Arsenal is really more than the 730 being discontinued this month, because still more jobs are being phased out as people retire or leave.
After AT&T closed its plant in 1990, laying off about 1,000 workers, Pulaski County joined with Montgomery County and the city of Radford to look into buying the site as a regional industrial park. But AT&T was asking $14.25 million for the building and property, and would not sell any of it separately then.
The price was too steep for Pulaski County's participation at the time, officials decided. But its interest in the site for industrial development continued.
On Oct. 26, New River Industries announced that it was buying the AT&T building and about 80 surrounding acres for an undisclosed price to expand its textile operations. That reduced the price tag on the rest of the acreage.
Assistant Pulaski County Administrator Peter Huber had been negotiating with AT&T over the balance of the property for several months.
"Recent trends toward employing fewer persons on larger industrial sites indicate that existing industrial sites in Pulaski County and the New River Valley do not provide sufficient acreage to accommodate the needs of county residents seeking employment," White said.
"Currently, over 1,800 workers are unemployed," he said.
In the 1980s, the county developed a 258-acre industrial park near Dublin called the Pulaski County Corporate Center. Fourteen industries have located there, providing 364 jobs. About 50 acres remain open there for new industry.
Another 50 acres for potential industry is being developed by the county near the New River Valley Airport outside Dublin. The board has been awarded a $700,000 U.S. Economic Development Administration grant for its development, to be matched by the county.
But the board feels that more than that total of 100 acres is needed, particularly because unemployment figures are likely to rise steeply in the coming year.
People who saw their AT&T jobs leave in 1990 got training benefits lasting 1 1/2 to two years. Now their schooling is finished, and they are job-hunting again. The same thing will happen with the former arsenal employees in another 1 1/2 to two years.
For all those reasons, Pulaski County officials insist, it becomes more important than ever to have more industrial sites available.