By Steve Woodhouse
When most of the VA campus was demolished, the old water tower and laundry facility
were spared. Their time may have passed.
“It was a nice building, it had potential,” Knoxville Mayor Brian Hatch said at Tuesday’s
Board of Supervisors meeting. He was speaking of the laundry facility, which was one of
the newest buildings on the campus (1996) when other buildings were taken down.
Knoxville and Marion County hoped to market the building to find a new purpose, but
what’s happened is that prospective buyers have lost interest when they get inside and
see the heavy equipment remains.
“It’s really tough when you’re staring at a driver the size of a small house,” Facilities
Manager Chris Nesteby said. The County has a bid from Kauffman Metal Recycling in the amount of $35,000 to remove the old laundry equipment. An optional bid was also submitted, for $50,000 to
remove the old VA water tower.
“If we can’t market (the laundry facility) after this…we have to do something with it,”
Board Chair Mark Raymie said. The option remains to take it down as well, but the City
and County believe trying again after removing the laundry equipment is a good option.
As for the water tower, it was kept mostly for nostalgia. The County and City do not believe it is necessary to keep it. There is also a need for some roof repairs. The County has a bid from McCarty Roofing for $29,900.
A resolution to approve contracts for these projects is expected to be on the May 28 supervisors’ agenda. The County believes there are funds available in the American Rescue Plan Act federal appropriation it received in response to COVID-19 to pay for these projects.
