Commissioners concerned spec building conditions are beginning to deteriorate

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Gary Prater is one of several county commissioners who feels the county’s spec building is deteriorating from disuse and needs routine maintenance to avoid further damage.

Concern about the condition of the county’s spec building has been growing among some county commissioners, leading Commissioner Gary Prater to question director of economic development Don Rigsby about the situation at the last commission meeting.

Prater noted moisture damage was occurring, probably due in part to the dirt floor in the building, causing mold to form on the interior walls and the insulation to come loose in some areas.

Rigsby says the county is aware of the problems and is working to alleviate them, but that it will take some time.

Prater says the general design of the facility, which has around 42,000 square feet, is part of the problem. He feels the building should not have been left in such an unfinished condition.

“They should have gone ahead and finished it out,” he said. “They should have gone ahead and put in the proper ventilation in there. They should have gone ahead and poured the concrete, put the dock plates in, gone ahead and boxed in and finished off the office space, and that would have solved all the mold and stuff that we have in there. It would have been a lot cheaper to have to have done it while they were already under construction than it will be right now.”

Prater isn’t the only commissioner who has expressed concern. Commissioner Herschel Wells was quite succinct in his recommendation.

“It needs some TLC fast,” he said.

Commissioner David Grissom fears the deterioration will affect the county’s ability to sell or lease the building.

“It’s not very attractive the way it’s sitting there right now,” he said.

Prater says he is also concerned about the building being in what amounts to an abandoned condition.

“It’s just a hang-out,” he said. “There are beer bottles. There are four-wheelers that are using the parking lot now, you can see, for a racetrack.”

Rigsby, who has pretty much inherited the problems as the newly hired director of economic development, says the county is looking into it and working to try and improve conditions. Rigsby says it’s common practice not to completely finish this type of building.

“Normally that’s the way you build a spec building, with no floor, so if a business wants to come in there they may have wiring or plumbing or something that they want to put under there that they’re going to have to dig up, so they can pour the floor as they need it.”

Rigsby admits the current situation does present a problem, but the county has some possible fixes in the works.

“We’re going to open those doors up and we’re going to put a chain-link fence in there where they can stay open and get some air in there for awhile and see if that helps. Some people who are more knowledgeable than me have told me they think by covering the floor up with plastic and opening up some doors, we shouldn’t have any problem with mold then.”

Even with the problems, Rigsby says he has been showing it to prospective industries, and assures the commission it will continue to receive his attention.

“I’m keeping an eye on it now,” he said.