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NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY Article date: February 15, 2002
Visible changes on horizon for Avtex By Ashley May
The joint efforts of the Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Authority, the Army Corps of Engineers and the former Avtex Fibers owner FMC Corp. to prepare the 500-acre Avtex Superfund site for redevelopment are on schedule, but for the first time in over a year, the view of Avtex is going to change, EDA Executive Director Stephen A. Heavener told the Warren County Board of Supervisors last week. By the end of the summer, the EDA hopes to orchestrate the targeted demolition of "several high visibility portions of the project in an accelerated manner, and to address the site horizon of the project," Heavener’s most recent Avtex project update says. The portions of the Avtex skyline to be demolished include another water tank, the "bag house," several smoke stacks, and two tank farms, Heavener says. "The desire is to have the work completed by late summer, 2001," he wrote. The Army Corps is currently removing asbestos from several buildings on the site, which was closed by the Envoronmental Protection Agency in 1986 due to environmental and safety concerns. Once the asbestos is removed, several of the structures will be demolished. The environmental remediation of the entire plant is scheduled to take about seven years, Heavener said. FMC and the EDA are funding a study of an 11-acre portion of the former plant ground adjacent to the Norfolk Southern railroad and Kendrick Lane, where evidence of a possible prehistoric presence was detected in a routine archaeological study last summer. The phase II study scheduled for mid 2001 will help delineate the boundaries of the study area and determine the type and significance of artifacts found there, Heavener says. Once the research is complete, the EDA will determine how to integrate the archeological resources into the redevelopment plan, Heavener says. The key component of the redevelopment plan is the renovation of the existing 14,000-square-foot former office building at 404 Kendrick Lane into a "green" designed office complex, currently being designed by the architectural firm dBF Associates of McLean. The EDA will locate its offices in a portion of the building, and FMC and EPA will occupy a portion. The remainder will be available for lease, Heavener says. A 165-acre portion of the site will be designed to accommodate an office park with upward of 15 office buildings and a 10- acre conference center parcel, Heavener says. The park will contain restrictive covenants that address a variety of "green" and eco-industrial standards, and is to be engineered by Painter-Lewis PLC, of Winchester. For 25 acres of the site, a professional- level soccer park is being designed, also by Painter Lewis, Heavener said. In coordination with the EPA, the U.S. Soccer Foundation has selected the Avtex site as the national demonstration project for its project to develop Superfund sites into soccer fields. A contract between the EDA and the USSF is being negotiated with work scheduled for late 2001. The 240-acre portion of the site that is located between the Shenandoah River and the Norfolk Southern railroad has been set aside for use as a conservancy park. Most of the environmental remediation work is occurring on this parcel, which when completed will contain a wildlife refuse, bird sanctuary, bike- jogging trails, boat landings, wetlands areas, and passive recreational opportunities. In March 2000, the EDA took ownership of the Avtex Fibers Superfund site resolving a 10-year effort by the community to regain control of the 500-acre parcel.
Details The project timetable:
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