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BIDCO board members are scheduled to hear a church’s proposal
today to buy nearly a quarter of a Southridge business park.
The Bible Center Church’s proposal to pay $2.6 million for the
88-acre site at the southern end of the property will be presented
at the Business and Industrial Development Corp.’s monthly meeting.
Church officials originally offered $2.2 million, compared with
BIDCO’s asking price of $3.2 million, said County Commissioner Dave
Hardy, who is also a BIDCO member.
“I think the BIDCO board will receive and accept the offer,”
Hardy said. “I think it would be an excellent chance to take the
money and invest it in projects.”
The church would get 180 days to evaluate the property before it
finalizes a deal, said Lee Walker, church administrator. For the
evaluation, BIDCO would receive $25,000 that is nonrefundable but
could be put toward the final purchase.
Some land evaluation has already begun and more extensive work
would start immediately, Walker said. If the site passes the
church’s tests, the deal would be closed near the end of the year,
Walker said.
“It’s a big deal for us,” Walker said. “We’ve been looking at
properties for more than three years. I’ve stood on at least 20
sites.”
Walker and other officials said they have looked for a new
location for three years, and that this site is by far the best fit
for their growing congregation. Senior pastor Shawn Thornton said
attendance on Sundays is up more than 50 percent from five years
ago, from about 800 to 1,300. The staff has increased from 50 people
to about 75, he said.
A new location is part of the church’s Vision 2015 plan. By then,
church members hope to have 2,500 attendees each Sunday, and hope to
offer children’s and counseling services, among other things. The
land would also allow the church to expand the Bible Center
Christian School to include junior high and high school students and
to build a retirement community.
Although BIDCO officials say bringing a church into the park is a
good thing, it does not fit the creators’ intent or expectations for
the site. They had hoped to use the park to bring in businesses from
outside of the area.
“I don’t think anyone 10-plus years ago thought that it would be
sold mostly for nonprofits and government buildings,” Hardy said
earlier this month.
In March 1990, then-BIDCO Director Nick Bayne said the park could
bring work for 3,000 people. It was hoped that a regional jail and
U.S. mail-handling center would serve as anchors in developing what
was a little-used farm and forest area.
But officials say the area’s unexpected retail growth and
distance from interstates turned off prospects. Today, fewer than
1,000 people work in the park.
Hardy said the project is not a failure if money from the church
could go to other projects. Those include the Kanawha Valley Port
Authority plan, the East Bank School site, Dow Chemical’s plan to
turn the South Charleston Tech Center into a high-tech park and
projects near the interstate in Clendenin.
To contact staff writer Paul Wilson, use e-mail or call
348-5179.
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