BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County Economic Development Authority (EDA) received the deed to the historic Inez Deposit Bank building. EDA Chairman James Ayers announced in the April 24 meeting that owners Jim and Linda Booth signed the deed April 2.
In response to this acquisition, EDA Director Carolea Mills presented a request for proposals to the board for approval.
“We’re looking for engineering and architectural services to evaluate the building and provide a cost estimate for repairs,” Mills explained. “I spoke with one expert who estimated that preparing the construction and engineering documents needed for state review would cost around $26,000. You can’t get inside the building. The inside is literally collapsed, so we need someone to look at it and see if we can repair it. If we can repair it, that’s what we want to do. If it can’t be repaired, we want to know that too. This is the first step to accomplish.”
The old building, located on Main Street across from the Martin County Government Center, was added to the National Register of Historic Places last month. Upon receiving the news, Mills expressed enthusiasm for the project’s potential impact.
“It’s the first piece and our starting point to revitalizing and hopefully preserving our history in our downtown,” she said, crediting the leadership of Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty and the EDA for committing to the restoration of the bank.
According to Mills, the goal is to bring new housing upstairs and possibly tourism opportunities on the first floor.
“A major goal of downtown revitalization is to maintain and expand the economic activity of commercial/mixed-use,” she said. “This can be the catalyst that can attract more people and businesses to our county. It will also help support other existing businesses. Our mission is to see our community thriving and alive. It won’t happen overnight, but we can do one piece at a time, rebuild and revive. It’s exciting.”
Continuing their focus on property development, the board revisited a Jan. 10 decision to purchase the Rockcastle Creek Church for $25,000 contingent upon a title review and approval of a Local Government Economic Development Fund (coal severance) grant by the state. Ayers announced that attorney Brian Cumbo had completed the title review.
Mills updated the board on the spec building at the industrial park in Debord, noting that B&B Contracting had resumed mowing services, work on the HVAC system was scheduled for May, and all building locks were to be replaced within the week due to signs of an attempted break-in.
She also shared a new opportunity for marketing the spec building, saying Colby Kirk, CEO of One East Kentucky, had proposed the EDA partner on a promotional video. The projected cost of the video was $12,000.
“He suggested that East Kentucky could cover half the cost and asked if we were interested in funding the remainder,” Mills reported. “I sent him a message back and said we would be interested if we could get grant funds. It’s hard to come up with $6,500 for a promotional video, but we want to market it. He’s attending all kinds of shows, so we want to make sure that he’s marketing our facility. I know that he does want to.”
Mills mentioned that Kirk had received interest in the spec building from three parties, with the last asking about a purchase price rather than a lease.
“It’s something that we should look at,” remarked Mills. “I asked Colby if he could give us some advice as far as what the buildings are going for.”
According to Mills, former EDA director Christi Brown advised that the county had invested $3.1 million in the building.
“Colby said that maybe we should get it appraised to know what the value is,” added Mills. “It’s probably something for us to look at. After the improvements, we should probably get it appraised.”
The board gave the nod to a $4,000 proposal for auditing services by Kelly Galloway Smith and the purchase of new signage for the Martin County Business Center at a cost of $7,045.
The EDA will meet again May 8 at 5:30 p.m.
