The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority’s Board of Directors began planning Friday morning for the upcoming renovation of the office buildings at the former Avtex Fibers rayon plant on Kendrick Lane.

The two buildings were built around 1940. The sit on the northern border of the 440-acre Avtex Site, and encompass a little more that 1,500 square feet, including their basements.

The buildings were abandoned when the Avtex plant closed in 1998, but have been home in recent years to the on-site offices of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing the clean-up of the site under its Superfund program for environmentally contaminated areas.

Authority Director Stephen A. Heavener said the renovated buildings eventually will be home to the authority’s offices and conference facilities, a museum and learning center dedicated to the history of the Avetx plant and the Superfund program, and rental office space for up to five business tenants.

The buildings are likely to house offices of the first companies that locate in the business park the authority is developing on the Avtex land, he said.

"This is important because it’s going to be the first renovation project at Avtex," he said. "We want these buildings to set the standard for the future development of the site."

The board began the design process with a tour of the buildings and a design workshop conducted by project architect Dan deBettencourt of dBF Associated Architects.

DeBettencourt, who works out of the firm’s McLean office, said one of the major challenges of the renovation will be to bring the buildings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The building’s narrow doors and staircases, and small bathrooms are not accessible to disabled persons and will have to be rebuilt, he said.

"It’s not a major problem, but it’s something we’ll have to consider in our design," he said. "These buildings just weren’t built with the disabled in mind. Today we have statues that require public facilities to be accessible. Back then, they didn’t."

DeBettencourt said he will attempt to create a design that takes advantage of the natural light that pours into the building through its many windows, some of which are as high as 14 feet.

He hopes to utilize solar power and other alternative energy sources in the design in order to be true to the spirit of the Superfund clean up process, he said.

"We have the opportunity with this project to set a national example of the way to clean up a Superfund site," he said. "We want to use appropriate sustainable design where it’s affordable and consider using passive systems like solar energy where we can."

Heavener said the authority now has $450,000 budgeted for the renovation project, but expects that amount to increase as the design process move along.

The $450,000 budget does not include $75,000 to $100,000 that the authority expects to spend on asbestos removal.

The Army Corps of Engineers will be responsible for the asbestos abatement portion of the project and the federal government will reimburse the authority for its cost, he said.

The authority expects to spend the bulk of its budget renovating the west building, where the museum and office space will be located, he said.

Former plant owner FMC Corp., has a 10-year lease on the east building, so the authority intends to undertake only basic renovation work there, he said.

"They’ve got that building for 10 more years so we’re not going to spend too much of our money in there," he said. "We’ll do basic HVAC and electrical stuff, but we aren’t going to concern ourselves with any thing cosmetic. The layout of that building is going to remain the same as it is now."

Heavener said the board hopes to have a final design for the buildings prepared by mid-April so the authority can begin the construction phase of the project as early as June 15.

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