Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509140056
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
"Let's all jump in the car and go for a ride," he told two council members and Town Manager Gary Elander.
They drove to the Burlington Industries property just outside town, and Keister suggested attempting to acquire some of the acreage and using it to create Dublin's first industrial park.
"We were all nodding," Elander recalled Wednesday, "but I'm sure in the back of our minds we were wondering, 'How can the town of Dublin do something like this?'"
Town officials joined representatives of government, industry and business Wednesday in dedicating the Dublin Industrial Park, which covers the entire former Burlington facilities complete with water and wastewater treatment plants, a boiler plant and many industrial buildings.
It also will be the site of the 14-acre Dublin Town Center, which will include a new town hall, post office and nine parcels for other businesses, one of which has already been sold.
The facility originated as a U.S. Army bagging plant during World War II. Burlington acquired it in 1947 and used it for a textile dyeing and finishing operation until the plant closed in the 1980s.
Dublin officials contacted Burlington real estate manager Marvin Baugh in Greensboro, N.C., and began the negotiations which would take years. Burlington and the town worked out an affordable package under which Dublin could buy part of the facility, including 11 buildings, in 1993. Burlington has since donated the rest of the property to the town.
The entire tract, valued at more than $13 million, is now part of the town thanks to an annexation agreement with Pulaski County. Fifteen companies have operations in various buildings, employing more than 200 people.
"It just goes to show you, if you don't fight and you work hard together, you can produce a few things," Keister said. "It's one thing to have an idea. It's another thing when the council backs you. But there's no way this could've gone through without our town manager."
Elander credited Town Attorney Tommy Baker for working out the agreements with Burlington, and said such agreements were unprecedented among small towns in the nation. The success of the project was recognized recently with the announcement of a Virginia Municipal League award to Dublin for the accomplishment.
Pulaski County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jerry White agreed that there's a necessity for cooperation between governments. "I think the society we're in today dictates that we have to do that," he said.
by CNB