Former school building coming down in July

Union County Development Association Executive Mindy Stalker told the Union County Board of Supervisors Monday that is known as the former Lincoln school building at 1001 W. Jefferson St. in Creston is to be torn down in July.

That was part of her quarterly report to supervisors. The association took ownership of the building last fall and has had it examined with the intent of removing it to build new housing. Working with an architect, Stalker said the plan is to build two different housing structures on the lot. The first one is 36 units combined between one and two-bedrooms. A construction schedule was not explained.

Increasing housing inventory, among all categories, is one of the emphasized projects for UCDA, Stalker said.

Research by UCDA showed that 48% of housing in Creston is considered blight, where the condition of the house is beyond owner repair. Another issue noted is the popularity of a home owner purchasing an adjacent lot to extend their property, preventing new construction from happening. Stalker said the connection between available housing and job growth is imperative.

In a related issue, Stalker spoke to supervisors about the feasibility of saving land intended for growth in business and industry. Stalker said she is in favor of the concept, but UCDA is not in position to create a land bank. Stalker and the supervisors said how they each have been contacted by companies looking to expand but are wanting sites ready to build that already have access to utilities.

Stalker said UCDA is having discussions for each town in the county to have a “postcard” mural. The design, painted on the side of a building, would resemble a postcard including a greeting with the town’s name. A site has already been determined in Lorimor. Stalker is also starting discussions on improvement ideas to each town’s parks.