Article date: December 30, 1999

By Diane Hartson

The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority will likely take ownership in early March of the Avtex Fibers Superfund Site, according to authority Director Stephen A. Heavener.

Authority officials had hoped earlier this fall that the real estate closing on the 500-acre site would take place by Friday.

Both town and county officials have approved a prospective purchaser agreement, which is the last document needing approval before the land transfer takes place. That contract includes provisions that resolve local concerns about liability for past pollution.

The agreement has been forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department and must be published for 30 days in the Federal Register, Heavener said. He estimated that the transfer wold take place during the first week in March because of the time needed following the publication period to assemble various officials needed for the closing.

Meanwhile, the authority is moving forward with plans to renovate the front office building on Kendrick Lane.

That $450,000 project will be the first at the site, which is slated for redevelopment. Plans include a business park, a hotel-conference center and a conservancy area with recreational facilities and a nature preserve.

The authority has advertised bids for an architect to design the front office building. Heavener said the agency is looking for a firm with "green backgrounds."

"We don’t want a generic architect. We want an architect with a proven portfolio of doing these types of projects," he said.

All of the redevelopment will be done using sustainable development, including the use of environmentally friendly features such as solar panels.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be helping with the building’s asbestos and lead paint abatement. Heavener said that project is expected to be competed by mid.-March.

The design for the renovation should be complete by then as will, he said.

By then, the design for the renovation should be completed, too.

However, he said it’s unlikely that the authority will meet a June 1 deadline for completing renovation. It will be August or September before the renovations are finished, Heavener said.

FMC Corp., which is responsible for the site’s remaining cleanup, is paying $150,000 to rent half of the building for 10 years. Its lease calls for the space to be available by June 1.