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Ideas sought for Boss Mfg. acreage

BRUCE BRANUM

The Greenville Standard

 

The City of Greenville in partnership with PPM Consultants held a community meeting on Saturday morning, Nov. 13 to seek community input and redevelopment options for the Boss Manufacturing site.

Greenville City Clerk-Treasurer Dee Blackmon opened the meeting with a welcome and introduction of Melissa Schick, who works For PPM with Government Initiatives.

Before the introduction of Schick, Blackmon explained this was the third year in a row that the City of Greenville had applied for a grant and were seeking public input as to what the public might want to see developed at the location.

Schick began her talk to attendees stating PPM was a regional company with offices in Birmingham, Mobile and Pensacola.

She noted the history of the Boss Manufacturing building, saying it was built around 1950 and was approximately 50,000 square feet.

Originally it was a textile and glove plant. It was later used for plastic products production.

Schick said plans were to tear down the building after removing materials with asbestos.  She indicated several people were interested in the bricks and hoped they could be recycled.

In all, there are approximately 13.8 acres, which could be repurposed.

After inviting suggestions for redevelopment ideas, several attendees gave their ideas.

One suggested the site would be well suited to be used for a Veterans Park and cemetery since Magnolia Cemetery was running out of space.

Another suggested the site would make a great location for children’s’ early education building, such as OCAP, and could include a playground.

Tracy Salter, with the Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce, said she had talked to elementary students in Greenville and asked them to present their ideas. She noted one child had suggested a go-cart park.

Time is of the essence for submittals of ideas on how they site can be repurposed for inclusion in the grant. Proposals and ideas should be submitted by Nov. 30.

They should be directed to the City Clerk’s office in care of Dee Blackmon. You can either drop off at City Hall or email to dee@cityofgville.com.

A copy of the draft Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives is available at City Clerk’s Office.

4 Comments

  1. John Hemingway on November 19, 2021 at 10:44 am

    Totally Disagree with all the aforementioned. Boss Mfg. is right across Hwy. 10 from B-A-D Neighborhoods and having another Park, Cemetery our ‘Go Cart’ tracking is one of the Dumbest suggestions for prime property I’ve ever heard. Drug Trafficking, Prostitution and High Crimes are some the Worst in the city. Beeland Park all but closed due to people in these neighborhoods decimated the park. So that side of town needs a “Shot in the Arm.” Why not build a nice mini mall with name recognized shops. Or better yet, a High End Truck Stop, like Loves [I’m not affiliated BTW]. But first, Land Contamination Studies for Asbestos should be done. Asbestos is a Carcinogen, a Cancer Causer, and an evaluation must be done FIRST…No Matter what is built there. This along with Ground Water contaminations. When I moved to Greenville from Atlanta several years ago first thing I did was send a water test to Auburn U. Greenville & Butler county has some of the worst water quality in the state so these must be addressed.

    • Editor on November 22, 2021 at 6:02 pm

      I will pass your comments to the city.

  2. Brian Mitchell on November 20, 2021 at 12:08 pm

    I would suggest to get an aerospace manufacturing company to build on the site. Greenville needs jobs to help families make more memories and make Greenville grow to be bigger and better. To make us a Shining City on a hill.

    If we do that, then all of the other ideas will follow.
    P.S. Turn Beeland Park back into a park for our children and grandchildren 😉.

    • Editor on November 22, 2021 at 5:56 pm

      I will pass it on

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