Article date: April 23, 2001

‘Skyline Demolition Project’ can be seen from Kendrick Lane, official says

Stephen A. Heavener, EDA executive director

By Mary Jordan

After years of work on the redevelopment of the former Avtex Superfund site, Front Royal residents will soon be able to see results.

The Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Authority on Friday awarded a demolition bid to Envirocon Inc. of Aston, Pa. The firm agreed to a total contract price of no higher than $330,000.

The demolition will include the fall of two 2-million gallon oil storage tanks, five 10,000 to 15,000 -gallon water tanks, a single elevated water tank, a coal storage shed, a bag house smokestack, and power house smokestacks.

"The residents of Warren County will experience the first real fundamental successes of the redevelopment project," said EDA Executive Director Stephen A. Heavener.

The buildings that will be demolished can be seen from Kendrick Lane, giving residents an opportunity to watch the land become vacant.

The demolition of the buildings is scheduled to be done by the end of the summer, Heavener said. Because no asbestos needs to be removed, the process will not take long, he said.

Heavener said the EDA is calling it the "Skyline Demolition Project."

"This is a major change in the skyline of Avtex since 1930," Heavener said. "I’m very excited about the fact that the skyline of Front Royal will be changed dramatically with this pending demolition work."

The community has not seen this much progress on the site since a stack was blown up on Veterans day 1997. While that was a big event, Heavener said it was more symbolic that it was progressive.

The demolition of the buildings is being funded entirely by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Economic Development Initiative grant awarded to the Authority for Avtex Decontamination and Demolition, Heavener said.

Heavener attributed the grant to the efforts of a few Virginia senators, who helped to pass a bill in Congress on behalf of the Avtex development.

Heavener said the EDA was able to get full funding through the grant because of the leadership efforts of Rep. Frank Wolf, R-10th, U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and former U.S. Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va., who championed getting the money for Front Royal for the project.