Parkland, nature preserve, hotel-conference center, office buildings and light industrial park would replace crumbling buildings and toxic waste lagoons at the Avtex Fibers site, according to a plan created in a study of reusing the Superfund site in Front Royal.

The study says it would cost about $5 million to prepare the 433.5-acre site for marketing to developers. The study anticipates $82 million in private investment, 2,440 new jobs, $367,609 in annual tax revenue and a yearly payroll of $717 million at the projects completion.

But the study warns that having the site removed from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list is essential to the success of the plan.

The site has been on that list since 1986. Built in the 1940s as American Viscose, the Avtex Fibers rayon plant voluntarily closed its doors in 1989 after more than 2,000 violations of environmental laws. Avtex declared bankruptcy soon after and the land is now in the control of a bankruptcy trustee and the EPA.

Local economic development officials said they are optimistic that the plan con be implemented. "It’s my understanding that in the near future, six months out, the fist section" of the plant site will be released for reuse, Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Director Stephen A. Heavener said Monday. "The county is in serious negotiations with the bankruptcy trustee."

Authority Chairman William P. "Bill" Barnett said local officials are pushing the EPA to reduce the size of the Superfund site, removing areas that aren’t contaminated from that designation. When that’s accomplished, officials will seek to have other areas released as contamination is cleaned up, he said.

Heavener said the project’s timing is perfect. He said he assumes that the Avtex project can start when the EPA finishes its project of demolishing about 30 derelict and contaminated buildings in two or three years.

In three to five years, other properties the authority owns will be developed, making the Avtex project a natural next step for economic development, he said.

The study was jointly paid for by the FMC Corp., authority, town and county. FMC, which as a former owner of the site shares responsibility for the cleanup, paid $120,000 of the $170,000 cost. The study was done by North American Realty Advisory Services, a New York company that specializes in reuse of contaminated sites.

Of the $4.98 million the study pro-poses being spent to prepare the site for reuse, $2.14 million would be used to demolish the buildings that will remain after the EPA completes its demolition project. The study concludes that it would be more cost-effective to tear down those buildings, about 535,00- square-feet, than to make them suit-able for reuse.

"All the buildings are currently in dubious physical condition and their

reuse seems unlikely," the study says. "The plant, closed now for 10 years, has deteriorated significantly. Structures are standing bare, roofs are missing and water leaks. There are no usable electricity, gas or water services available on the site."

The accounting, personnel and gatehouse buildings near the front of the plant site may "have some reuse value," it says.

An additional $885,000 would be used to build 8,850 linear feet of roadway, including a road along the line where Randolph-Macon Academy’s property borders the Avtex land and interior roads to serve new development.

The remainder of the proposed funding would pay for new utility lines and site preparation.

The study recommends the creation of a comprehensive plan for the development of the site that out-lines its use and includes

guidelines for making development attractive and in keeping with a "park-like" atmosphere. It calls for 230 acres of the land on the west side of the railroad tracks that divide the land to be a nature preserve. Other land on that side of the tracks would be used for an EPA landfill, where contaminated materials from the demolition of buildings is to be dumped and sealed, and for the existing waste water treatment plant.

On the 183 acres on the east side of the tracks, it outlines the following uses:

• A 150-room hotel-conference center on 26 acres.
• A 94-acre industrial park for light industries.
• Just under 10 acres of flexible commercial use, which the study concludes would be mostly service-related businesses.
• An office complex on 38.5 acres.

The study concludes that the site couldn’t be marketed to a single, large industrial user and isn’t feasible for a large shopping mall or out-let center because it isn’t close to interstates.

But it says the site, if prepared for development, could be marketed to developers.

"North American contacted six national development organizations that have the financial capability to undertake a project of this magnitude," the study says. "Their response to the location and specifically the site was positive and the dynamics of real estate development in the area was impressive."

The study cites the area’s recent successes in industrial development, its good labor force and its proximity to interstates, rail lines and the Virginia Inland Port.

The site also is part of a state enterprise zone, which would offer local and state incentives for those who meet investment and job creation standards, the study says

Land sales over the 15-year period of the project would recoup the $5 million spent with about $7,000 in profit, it says. The study also outlines several grant programs that could be sources of funds for the project. "The property represents an important opportunity to recycle a contaminated property," the study says. "The EPA, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, FMC and the bankruptcy trustee should become part of the partner-ship to realize the economic revitalization of the site and the community." "It’s a very creative use of the property and it combines the needs of the community with putting the property back on the tax rolls and in productive use," Barnett said of the study. A public presentation on the study will be held May 26 at 7 p.m. in the county courthouse.