Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 7, 1995 TAG: 9509070046
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Dublin will get the award, in the category of local governments with populations of less than 5,000, for its development of an industrial park. The town was cited by a panel of three judges for acquiring an idle Burlington Industries plant site and converting it into an industrial park.
The league classified the accomplishment as "one of the most ambitious economic development projects ever undertaken by a small local government in Virginia."
Dublin and Burlington reached an agreement in 1993, after more than two years of negotiations, on the sale of the main area of the plant site. Each of its 11 buildings were 10,400 square feet and could serve as "shell buildings" for warehouse and production uses.
The town acquired the rest of the Burlington property in 1994, including a 300,000-square-foot former Klopman Mills building, a former water treatment plant and a functioning wastewater treatment plant. Dublin and Pulaski County subsequently negotiated a voluntary annexation that put all 170 acres and 359,000 square feet of building space into the town limits at the start of 1995.
The league judges said that for a small town to be able to put together such a project, "it obviously required imagination, brains, patience and ability. The town now has a diversified employment base, more flexible and lasting than previously."
The achievement awards are among the most prestigious local government awards in the state, and attract more entries than any similar competition.
by CNB