FAIRMONT, W.Va. — City officials are looking to re-purpose one of Fairmont’s oldest abandoned factory sites.
The 25 acres of vacant space in east Fairmont where the Owens-Illinois Glass Factory once stood has been given new life after Fairmont officials and a Morgantown development company decided to renovate the site into the new Speedway Business Park.
Fairmont City Manager Robin Gomez spoke enthusiastically about the details of the project on WAJR-Clarksburg’s “The Gary Bowden Show.”
“Its location, having access from exits 137 and 139 off of the interstate makes it easy to reach, easy to locate, and we’re pretty excited about the opportunities and the fact that there is currently a fairly large developer there,”said Gomez.
The development of this site has been in the making for a few years now, starting with Merit Development, LLC purchasing the site back in 2015. Since then, the Owens-Illinois Factory site has gone through major restorations just to get up to par in regards to developing a property that was abandoned for slightly over 30 years.
According to Fairmont City Planner Sandra Scaffidi, it was beyond just a simple re-zoning and clean up.
“It was a basic piece of flat land, however, because of the industry, it was contaminated,” she said. “They had a lot of glass making factories there. Once the buildings were gone, the ground was still contaminated. So Merit Development did a lot of remediation, volunteer remediation.”
Originally opened in November 1910, the Owens-Illinois Glass Factory was one of the first of it’s kind, both in regards to industry in the state and in the country. One of three in the state, the factory based their manufacturing operations on a bottle making machine developed by West Virginia native Michael Owens, which was the first of it’s kind. Operations continued on the property for approximately 72 years after it’s opening, before closing it’s doors in 1982. With the history behind the property and a local company willing to do some heaving lifting, Gomez feels that a lot has gone right in regards to the land.
“Their interest, their quality, certainly the resources that they have to undertake such a cleaning of a site, they’re really to be commended for that investment,” Gomez said.
The City is in the process of naming the area, which will include “Glass Avenue,” “Bottle Works Avenue,” and “Progress Street.” All have received unanimous approval by Fairmont City Council.
Scaffidi said a number of businesses will be able to call the area home.
“The greatest opportunity for them currently is industrial resources,” she said. “So there have several businesses that are currently going in there currently, that are related to the oil and gas industry.”.