County scraps plans for Sara Lee building

Citing concerns with the cost of renovations, the Alleghany County Board of Commissioners agreed by consensus Monday to scrap the notion of moving county offices and other facilities into the former Sara Lee Knit Products manufacturing facility.

That building is currently owned by Piedmont Medical, which bought the building from its last occupant, Spring Ford Knitting. Piedmont Medical announced in early 2002 that it would be hiring about 30 people to work in that facility, but those jobs never materialized and the building has been vacant ever since.

Commissioner Patrick Woodie originally suggested looking into the possibility of utilizing the Sara Lee Knitwear building, located at 120 Trojan Ave. in Sparta, so that the county could meet more needs in combining facilities. Other commissioners had voiced reservations about moving court facilities from the current building on Main Street, as well as raising concerns about cost.

The cost concerns proved to be most detrimental to the project moving forward.

The preliminary study by the county's architects, Hemphill and Associates, shows an estimated cost of $5.2 million, not counting the cost of purchasing the property, which likely would cost in excess of an additional $1 million.

Woodie voiced concerns after the meeting about moving forward with the other plan on the table, even though a majority of the commission appears to be leaning in that direction.

"I understand it's five and a half million dollars and we're not going to lay out that kind of money to do anything," Woodie said. "At this point, just for myself, I am questioning whether $2.5 million for the courthouse and the Cash and Carry building is the right move.

"If we're going to spend $2.5 million and keep everything we have, we're not gaining a lot of ground," he added.

Meanwhile, Chairman Eldon Edwards said the commissioners gave County Manager Don Adams the go-ahead to complete the feasibility study for the courthouse and the Cash and Carry building project. "We did some of it, but he is going to come back to us as far as the budget goes," Edwards said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

That project, if approved by a majority of the board, could get under way as soon as later this year, Edwards said.

"We want to get it in this year's budget if we possibly can," Edwards said.

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