By DAVID A. MANN
david.mann@newsandtribune.com
CLARKSVILLE —
The town of Clarksville has agreed to purchase the 190,000-square-foot Value City building along Eastern Boulevard.
The Clarksville Redevelopment Commission on Thursday night approved a memorandum of agreement with owner Alan Muncy that moves the sale forward. Under the agreement, the town will buy approximately 11 acres of the site, which includes the building, for $1.5 million.
POSSIBLE USES
The exact use of the land is still undecided, but it has been mentioned as a possible site for a New Tech school.
New Tech — which engages students using a project-based model that focuses on solving real world problems — is the obvious front-runner, said Redevelopment Commission President Bob Popp. Clarksville Community School Corp. officials recently decided to pursue a feasibility study to investigate the building as a possible site.
Popp said additional infrastructure improvements, including parking and a dedicated road for nearby Clarksville Little League Park, are needed in the area if the New Tech prospect doesn’t work out.
“We got $5 million tied up in this Little League park,” he said. The town doesn’t actually have any parking spaces for the park, but instead leases 320 spaces and the access road leading in.
Clarksville Town Council President John Gilkey said another possible use would be to have the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department move some of their programs — aerobics, classes and clubs — from the community building off Broadway to the Value City building.
In that scenario, Clarksville Town Court could be moved to the community building and more first floor meeting space could be made available at town hall, where the court is now located.
“Right now, we’re blue-skying,” Gilkey said
PENDING SALE
The agreement approved Thursday night calls for Muncy and his firm, API, to donate a strip of land to the town to develop Little League Boulevard with room for sidewalks, lights and landscaping.
Value City Department Store closed in 2008 and that part of the building has been vacant since. However, the two remaining businesses in other areas of the building — Value City Furniture and Carpet Remnant Outlet — will pay rent to the town of Clarksville once the sale is complete.
API will still own about 22 acres on the front portion of the site. It’s to submit a development plan regarding future uses to the town of Clarksville, under Thursday’s agreement.
Muncy said he and API partner Eric Goodman are working with parties interested in the site but declined to give specifics.
“We are looking forward to working with the town of Clarksville on this,” he said.
Muncy added that the intent is to redevelop the area and bring economic improvement to Eastern Boulevard. API only bought the site from Columbus, Ohio-based Schottenstein Property around the first of the year.
