N.C. Cooperative Extension agent Rob Hawk, center right, talks last Thursday (April 2) to elected officials, residents and county department managers about a proposed Whittier agriculture site in the former Drexel plant.
Commissioners are having a building assessment conducted to find out what must be done to make the old plant usable. “We’ll get the building assessment back and decide what our next step should be,” county Manager Chuck Wooten said.
“There are a couple of outside funding sources that we want to explore. We also want to get the building cleaned out and the grounds around it as well.”
There are a lot of maybes for the site, including an agricultural exhibit area, market and classroom space, and a community garden.
On the most-likely front is a livestock holding facility to help cattle owners combine transport trips to out-of-county auctions. Wooten said grant dollars are being sought to help offset costs of redeveloping the county-owned former industrial site.
