By Elisabeth Strillacci

SPENCER — When the town began to work toward developing their side of the Wil-Cox Bridge and Yadkin River Park to coordinate with the one on the Davidson County side of the river, part of the plan included developing, in some fashion, the site of the former finishing plant.

But the land is a brownfield site, which is a property that is abandoned or underused or not used at all due to environmental contamination. Cleaning up brownfield sites can be complex and expensive, but has to be done before redevelopment can happen.

The hope was, and remains, that the site will become a mixed use development offering both residential units and commercial spaces for shops and entertainment.

The Finishing Company was located on Hwy. 29/70 and for years was an important employer in Rowan County. But in 2011, a fire destroyed most of what was left of the plant.

Since then, plans to develop the site have been discussed, with little action.

According to records, in 2020, the site was purchased by Waterford Funding LLC for $3.5 million. Another company now owns the property to the south of the former plant, and both have come together to create a site plan that includes significant development.

But the land still has to be cleaned, and in addition to Spencer’s focus on helping that come to fruition, the Centralina Council of Governments, which includes Rowan County, has the property in its sites.

According to Centralina’s website, “Centralina Regional Council has received grant funding through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be put toward brownfield revitalization projects throughout our region’s communities. Special guests from EPA’s Region 4 office visited Centralina on Oct. 15, 2024 to recognize town of Spencer, city of Albemarle, city of Kannapolis and city of Mount Holly for the work they’re doing to turn former development sites into local resources.” In Spencer, the Finishing Plant is the site Centralina is focusing on.

And now the town has received an additional micro grant of $50,000 from the North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR) to help fund studies to figure out the best way to get the site safe and prepared for development.

NCRR, which oversees the state’s rail corridor and its development by working with communities and businesses on services and on rail-centered solutions, created this micro grant program to provide funding to communities in order to help eliminate site development barriers and create a pipeline of investment in new industrial sites in North Carolina.

There are no matching funds required for the grant. Funds will supplement Centralina’s grant for Phase I & II site assessment.

“We are still moving forward slowly, but this definitely a step in the right direction and some exciting movement,” said Spencer Town Manager Peter Franzese.

The Yadkin River Park in Spencer completed its Phase I development more than a year ago, with parking, connections to trails with more to come, bike parking and a welcoming area on the Rowan County side of the Wil-Cox Bridge.

Spencer’s Board of Aldermen accepted the micro grant at its meeting Tuesday night, and though no specific start date is set for beginning studies of the property, it appears now that there is funding, it should be soon.