May 21, 1998

Superfund site could be transformed into mixed-use industrial park and open space

A new makeover proposed for the Avtex Superfund site shows a mixed use facility with light industry, a hotel and conference center, offices, businesses, and open space.

A report just released by North American realty Advisory Services of New York city, "Future use and Implementation Strategy for the Former Avtex Fiber Site" validates what local economic officials had envisioned at the site of the former strategic high-tenacity rayon manufacturer.

"There’s no surprises," said Stephen Heavener, executive director of the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority. "I’m pleased with the layout and the mixed use. It’s the kind of product we will continue to need in the next 10 to 20 years. I see this as a continuation of what we’re doing in the (522 north) corridor and happy Creek Industrial Park."

The report will be presented to local governing bodies at the Town hall next Tuesday at 2 p.m., and to the public at 7 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public.

The consultant was hired last August by local government bodies a t a cost of $175,000, with $125,000 of that being paid by FMC Corp., a former site operator.

The report recommends that all the buildings at Avtex be demolished.

"It all has got to go," Heavener said. Demolitions now underway and would be completed in two years at the earliest, Heavener said.

However, about 10 percent of the site is in open space and could be released from the Superfund cleanup program within six months to a year, he said.

"We’re hoping in the near term, six months, we should make progress on some of the property, to have some of the initial portions that aren’t tainted to be released," Heavener said. This property lies on the east side of the railroad tracks, south of Kendrick Lane.

Negotiations are ongoing with the Superfund office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region III office in Philadelphia, and Anthony Murray, the bankruptcy trustee, Heavener said.

"The regulations are in place to permit the EPA to do it. They just need to do it. The bankruptcy trustee still controls the assets there."

Phase one is a five-year plan costing $ 3.2 million for infrastructure and demolition of about 500,000 square feet of unusable buildings, the report stated.

"It’s all got to go," Heavener said.

To establish the site as a realistic development opportunity, seed capital must be raised to create land infrastructure and the Superfund designation must be removed from the site, the consultant said.

It is doubtful that a large single user or two large users would be attracted to the site, based on historical data of expanding companies in the U.S., the consultant said. However, it is well-suited for a business park.

Possible light industries that have a good record in Virginia would include printing, electronic equipment and machinery, food processing, paper and box producers, biomedical assembly an business support services, the report stated.

Avtex would also be a suitable location for a new governmental center for Front Royal and Warren Count or some other level of government use, such as a state job training facility, the report said.

Tourism can play a part in the area’s future economic development, the report stated. However, the lack of highway visibility, coupled with the dynamics of the local retail market "severely limit the feasibility of developing a marketable and competitive regional shopping mall or factory outlet center," the report added.

Another study is underway to be completed in mid-June that looks at the potential for retail and commercial development int he town and county, Heavener said.

He said that while the consultant’s report will be valuable in decision that are made over the next 10 years, it is not a firm outline of the site’s future.

"It doesn’t mean we can’t modify it," he said of the plan. "We pick an choose from the toolbox to continue with our progress in attracting investment an creating jobs."