Published: July 05, 2009 07:27 pm      

Officials: First phase of Bluestone project still on target

BLUEFIELD, Va. — Tazewell County officials say they are still on target to advertise the first phase of the planned Bluestone Regional Business and Technology Park for construction later this summer.

The county’s Industrial Development Authority is currently working to procure up to $3 million in additional financing for the phase one construction, County Attorney Eric Young said.

“The IDA is procuring financing for phase one,” Young said. “We should have that back next week. We are going to have financing in place before we put the project (out to bid) The IDA will have a meeting on July 10 to evaluate those proposals.”

Tazewell County officials have been working on the technology park project for several years. The national recession hasn’t stopped the project, and county officials say they are still speaking with prospective companies and industries interested in locating into the technology park.

The Bluestone, which is being developed near Bluefield, Va., is a 680-acre mixed-use development that will include sites for new businesses and industry, a workforce training center, offices, a hotel and conference center, retail stores, residential units, walking trails and even a possible nine-hole golf course.

The project has been slowed in recent months by several environmental and historical hurdles, including the discovery of a 228-year-old farmhouse, along with chert, or chips of rock and flint that represent evidence of a pre-contact settlement.

Target industries for the mixed use development include technology-based, advanced manufacturing and energy businesses.

A 2006 study by Chmura Economics & Analytics found the Bluestone project could generate $45 million in annual sales and output for the county and employ almost 900 people in both the public and private sectors. The study was completed before the national economic downturn.

– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com