Expanding industry

Published 11:00 pm Monday, June 18, 2012

Expansion planned for Industrial Park Boulevard

As you drive beyond Baker Metal Works & Supply on Industrial Park Boulevard, the paved road turns to clay covered by gravel. But that’s about to change.

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“It’s really going to be such a nice project when it is finished,” said Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford as he looked at a map of proposed changes in his office.

The city has secured an Industrial Access grant that will fund a paving project to expand Industrial Park Boulevard in front of the future home of Ward’s Woodworks, down to a new spec building and continuing just north of that building to an undeveloped portion of Industrial Park South near Starling Cemetery.

“It will accommodate new industry,” Lunsford said.

And as a plus, the city will also pave a 200-foot section of a dirt path to the cemetery.

“I promised them when we finished developing they’d have a hard surface road to reach that area,” Lunsford said. “I am very happy we can do that.”

The expansion will be 877 linear feet, Lunsford said, and will cost about $260,000.

Lunsford said other roads branching off from Industrial Boulevard will be constructed based on how the property is marketed and sold to incoming industry. And there is room for a variety of companies.

“We have at least 95 developable acres left,” Lunsford said. “This is really just the beginning of what we may see out there.”

On top of that developable land, there are about 45 acres of timberland that will remain untouched to mitigate work done at the Troy Municipal Airport.

Lunsford said the city is open to different industries coming into Industrial Park South, but the spec building currently under construction was designed to possibly attract and accommodate an automotive company. However, the building will be bare bones inside so it can be easily completed to the specifications of just about any company.

The steel framework of the building is already in place.

“It will be exciting to see what happens out there,” Lunsford said.