ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 18, 1997 TAG: 9702180063
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Dublin town officials had hoped to be in their new 9,168-square-foot town hall this month, but that is not going to happen.
The new time for the anticipated completion of the building in the Dublin Town Center is May, but mid-April may be a possibility if the weather cooperates. Last week's snow was not helpful. The key element is whether temperatures will allow the builders to get a good base coat on the parking area around the building.
In any case, the new municipal building will mean marked changes for Dublin.
The old building in the middle of town has been in use for decades, but is cramped and lacks the necessary wiring for modern technology. Dublin Town Council does not even hold its meetings there anymore, but in the meeting room of Free Memorial Library.
Even more Dublin residents may notice a change when the post office moves to the Town Center. More than 2,200 people use it each day.
In particular, those who try to squeeze into its present eight parking spaces will appreciate the change. The larger building will have more than 40 spaces.
All of the nearly 1,600 postal boxes at the present 4,000-square-foot building, diagonally across the street from the current town hall, are rented. The new building will furnish more of the boxes, for which people are waiting.
Specific plans are not yet final, and no timetable for the new post office has been announced.
The first Town Center building, a branch of the First National Bank of Christiansburg, has been in business for several months. A new restaurant is to be sought as a tenant for the center.
The Town Center was carved out of the 270-acre Dublin Industrial Park, which the town acquired from Burlington Industries in recent years. It rents most of the 16 industrial buildings to various companies, raising much of the money required to develop the Town Center.
ASC Inc., one of the renters, is constructing its own 55,000-square-foot plant in the industrial park to make trim parts for trucks. It will be the park's first new industrial building.
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