Site grading almost complete for Burke's shell building, but pace slows on HR building renovations

Construction of the county’s shell building in the Burke Business Park is moving along on schedule, but the Human Resources building renovation project has had to slow its pace, said County Manager Brian Epley.

The HR building at 700 E. Parker Road in Morganton houses the county’s social services and public health departments. The building is also home to Burke County Public Schools’ central office.

Epley said the HR renovation project is still in the design and development phase, which is going to stretch out for longer than originally planned.

The reason for slowing down is twofold: For one, former Health Director Danny Scalise recently took a new position in Spokane, Wash. For another, BCPS is slightly behind on its project of moving the central office into a new building.

“We’re giving the interim health director and that team an opportunity to review (the plan),” Epley said. “We’ve developed the plan as a team, but anytime you have an executive change, you just want to make sure everybody is still on the same page.”

Plus, the county’s ability to start construction is directly tied to BCPS’s central office project.

Epley said the HR building renovation project is on schedule as best it can be, all things considered, and the design phase should be complete by June. Construction, though, can only begin once BCPS has fully moved to its new central office.

INDUSTRIAL SHELL BUILDING

Construction of Burke’s $9.2 million industrial shell building is projected to start on schedule once building materials are delivered, Epley said.

The materials should come in within a month, he said.

Epley said site grading, infrastructure, and other earthwork are substantially complete. The road leading to the project has also been paved.

The shell building will be a preconstructed facility designed to attract companies that want to start operations without building from scratch. The flexible design allows a buyer to expand the 100,000-square-foot building to 180,000 square feet.

Epley said the business park is a critical asset for Burke because it is one of the county’s few marketable tools for economic development.

“Burke County has largely struggled and lagged behind in the world of economic development in the region,” Epley said in a previous interview. “Our GDP (gross domestic product) is less today than it was in 2017 (and) our workforce has contracted. We haven’t, as a county, done a good enough job of reinventing ourselves after the exodus of textiles and furniture.”

The business park, at Kathy Road, or exit 96 off Interstate 40, was purchased about 25 years ago, Epley said, and does not solely belong to Burke County. The 83-acre industrial park is owned in partnership by the county, the City of Morganton, the Town of Valdese, the Town of Drexel, and the Town of Rutherford College.