CHESTER - With a desire to once again make the Chester riverfront location a community icon, the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle has purchased the former Taylor, Smith and Taylor property.
Patrick Ford, BDC executive director, said the BDC finalized the purchase late last week.
For almost 80 years, the TS&T ceramic pottery manufacturing facility was a major employer in Hancock County. But in 1981, the business shut its doors, and, with the exception of a few minor uses, the property has stood vacant and untouched.
It wasn't long before residents in the adjacent neighborhood began asking for something to be done. As it continued to deteriorate, the TS&T site posed mounting health and safety concerns. Those complaints have continued for almost 30 years.
Ford said with the purchase by the BDC, a better future awaits the neighbors of the former TS&T property.
"We have been at the site, and we are working with contractors right now," Ford said. "This is a priority of the BDC. We are going to clean up the site. This is what we do. We're in this for the long haul."
The goal of the BDC is to remediate and develop the site and create living-wage jobs, Ford said.
"It's great to have a project of this scale in Hancock County," Ford continued. "We want to get people out of the negative mindset. We want them to be able to breathe a sigh of relief and see their property values go up and their quality of life improve."
Ford said the acquisition could not have been possible without the cooperation of Rock Springs Enterprises Inc. and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
"Our board recognized that there is a public urgency at the TS&T site," Ford said. "The unchecked deterioration of this site would result in an immediate threat to the health and safety of the residential neighborhood, in addition to the economic well being of Hancock County."
The Brooke Hancock Regional Planning and Development Council has long shared these concerns, and developed a task force to engage in community outreach and visioning for the future of the site.
Patrick Kirby, director of the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, and Luke Elser, NBAC project manager, facilitate the monthly meetings of the citizen's task force, known as the Rock Springs Riverfront Development Committee. The next meeting is at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Chester municipal building.
Ford said he will attend the meeting. He said the BDC plans to involve the citizen's group in the remediation of the site and the planning for future uses.
Heidi Dietz, president of Rock Springs Enterprises Inc., is an active member of the citizen's group. Kirby said weeks ago that remediation and development of the site would require a private-public partnership.
At a recent meeting of the citizen's task force, Dietz said she understands the community's frustration with the partially demolished site because, "I'm just as tired of looking at it as everyone else is."
Ford said throughout the acquisition process, he has worked closely with Dietz. "Heidi has been wonderful to work with," he said.
The BDC also plans to involve state and federal officials in the clean-up process, as well as Hancock County, which has been a regular investor in, and supporter of, the BDC.
The public health urgency and community commitment helped prioritize the TS&T brownfield site among key opportunities identified for acquisition and development in the BDC's recently completed Strategic Economic Development Plan for the Northern Panhandle, Ford said.
The plan was funded by the US Economic Development Administration.
Ford said the BDC is the first organization to step forward with the financial capacity, partners and expertise to remediate a brownfield site of this magnitude in Brooke and Hancock counties.
Those partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Land Revitalization Team, which was created to assist local stakeholders in tackling projects of this nature, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center.
"A development on this site that includes business and housing will help breathe life back into this community," said Bill D'Alesio, chairman of the BDC Board. "The plan is to acquire the site, remediate it by removing environmental contaminates and raze all existing buildings in preparation for new development."
Ford added, "The acquisition of this property really highlights the strength of the partnership between the BDC and the County Commissions, in this case Hancock County. The commissioners were adamant about making progress on this property to eliminate a long-standing environmental eyesore for the residents of Chester."
"It is important for the residents to understand, however, this is only the first step," said Ford. "In order to begin the process of remediating the property, we will need a great deal of collaboration and cooperation from the State of West Virginia, the WVDEP and the USEPA to begin making improvements. We are happy about the acquisition but there is still a long way to go on this property before residents will see material changes."
Ford explained the acquisition of the TS&T property is the third in a series of job creation and retention successes for the BDC, including the 75 jobs created by the expansion of the rue21 distribution center in Brooke County and the 17 jobs created by the adaptive use of the old Wal-Mart building in Weirton by ITW/Fleetwood Signode. The Wal-Mart project also preserved 35 existing jobs in the county.
(Tullis can be contacted at ntullis@reviewonline.com)
