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The Blount County Economic Development Board on Wednesday finalized the sale of the Blount County Highway Department's facility, located at 415 Louisville Road, to developer Jay Dunlap for $3 million.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to build a new joint Highway Department and Blount County Schools Maintenance Facility on Wright Road in Alcoa. Construction on the highway department's new 25,000-square-foot, $1.8 million facility is scheduled to begin in late spring with completion and move-in slated for late fall. The development board announced the sale in a Wednesday press release.

"The department is continually faced with meeting the challenges of a growing community, which requires more maintenance, more roads and additional services," said Blount County Mayor Jerry Cunningham.

"This property has been owned by Blount County since the 1930s. Selling this property now was a strategic decision. I am pleased that the county received more than the appraised value for this land in spite of the brownfield problems in existence because the property was previously a landfill. This decision will not only allow the highway and school maintenance departments to build better, updated and larger facilities, but by better utilizing this valuable land, the county expects to generate about $1 million in tax revenue per year."

"We are excited about our new facility, which has been needed for many years," said Highway Superintendent Bill Dunlap. "With our new space, we will be better able to serve our community with more up-to-date maintenance equipment, which will allow us to make repairs quicker, more space in the office for meetings with citizens, and a training room for employee safety and education on new equipment and products that are being offered.

"More importantly, I am proud to say that by using the money from the land purchase to pay for the construction and lease, I am keeping my commitment to the taxpayers of Blount County. These new facilities will not cost Blount Countians any additional money."

The 14-acre property where the new facility will be located, near the city of Alcoa's new public works facility, will be leased from Alcoa through a 50-year renewable lease.

"With the city of Alcoa, Blount County, and the economic development board all working together, we have been able to create a beneficial situation for all involved and for the taxpayers of our community," said Mark Johnson, city manager of Alcoa. "This landmark deal will help our communities' growth and prosperity for years to come, and at the same time allow our highway department and school maintenance to better serve our growing communities."

The Blount County Highway Department maintains 834 miles of road, 120 bridges and 6,000 feet of guardrail and mows all county roads' rights of way five times per year. Additionally, each year, the department paves approximately 25 miles of road, ditches approximately 50 miles of road and replaces one mile of pipe for drainage.

For the past 2¬½ years, Jay Dunlap has developed the 101,000-square-foot "phase one" of Hamilton Crossing Plaza, which officially opened in September and houses Circuit City, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Shoe Carnival, Rue21, Fusion Tanning, PetSmart and other retail stores.

There is an 80,000-square-foot "phase two" planned for Hamilton Crossing that includes a national bookstore chain, but Dunlap would not disclose the name of the bookstore or a time frame for phase two.

Hamilton Crossing Plaza is located behind the Chili's restaurant on Hamilton Crossing Drive, which runs beside the Cracker Barrel restaurant across from the Alcoa Wal-Mart.

The Blount County Commission authorized the sale, through the Economic Development Board, in January.

"It's always exciting to help bring businesses into our community, but this deal was especially gratifying because it created such a win-win for our community and the highway department," said Bryan Daniels, executive vice president of the Blount County Economic Development Board.