Warehouse Demolition Begins
Published 4:10 pm Thursday, January 27, 2011
FARMVILLE – Town workers have begun demolition of the old tobacco warehouse on North Street. A new Farmer's Market will be sown in its place.
“We've started dismantling the building,” Town Manager Gerald Spates said this week.
Though Spates said he has “no idea how long the work is going to take,” he is optimistic that the new facility will open for in time for vegetables to be sold this year.
“Realistically, it will probably be open some time this summer,” the town manager replied, “but I don't know when.
“That's what we're shooting for,” he said.
When completed, the work will produce both parking space and a permanent dedicated home for the Farmville area farmer's market, which is now housed along the outside of the Farmville Train Station.
Most of the existing tobacco warehouse will be torn down to create parking space but enough of the building left, with renovations, for the farmer's market.
The Town purchased the warehouse for $507,425 and the farmer's market/parking project is a central component in the Town of Farmville's efforts to enhance the downtown area.
The train station has been used by farmers as their market place, with tables set up under the relatively small overhanging roof of that historic building to shade them from sun and from rain-two vital ingredients for any garden.
Spates has explained that the portion of the warehouse next to High Bridge Trails State Park will not be torn down and, instead, used to create an indoor market area, with the remainder of the property landscaped and paved for parking.
The design would allow for future expansion of the farmer's market to create more booth area.
Spates said the Town received “a little over $100,000 from the Tobacco Commission” for the project.
According to the town manager, the project will help eliminate the issues the Town has with the train station's use for the farmer's market.
“It's just not really working,” he has told Town Council, “and it's limited space.”
The design will incorporate the old Middle Warehouse sign, which will be moved-it is on a part of the building that will be torn down-and featured as part of the farmer's market. The sign will be refurbished.
Town officials are pleased to have had the chance to acquire the property for development as a farmer's market and additional downtown parking.
“We paid $500,000 for that piece of property. I guess we could have let it go but when would you have another opportunity?” Spates has told council members while discussing the project last year.
Council member Tommy Pairet agreed. “It's a huge asset,” Pairet said at the time.
Fellow members Sally Thompson and Dr. Edward I. Gordon agreed.
“You're looking at the future,” Dr. Gordon said.
“And this is right next to” High Bridge Trails State Park, Ms. Thompson said. “It's an enhancement for the town.”
Looking into the future, Dr. Gordon added, the money spent to acquire the property and develop it for parking and a farmer's market won't seem like a costly expense.
“Not at all,” Pairet agreed.
Town Council paid a structural engineer to study the building to ensure it would safely support a farmer's market, coupled with partial demolition for parking spaces.
Beefing up certain supports will accomplish the goal.
The project will produce an interestingly shaped three-sided building.
Growers selling their produce will see the rain and the sun, but will be shaded and dry.