GLEN LYN, Va. – A grant for a reuse study has been given to Giles County to see how they can repurpose the old Glen Lyn Appalachian Coal Power Plant building.
The coal power plant has been part of the Giles County community for over 100 years and now officials want to repurpose the old building.
“In 1919. there was great need for power production, and so this plant filled this need,” said Chris McKlarney, Giles County administrator. “At one point, I think in the 1940s, it was the largest power producer in the country.”
The Glen Lyn Appalachian Coal Power Plant was one of the corner stones of Giles County’s economy when it was operational.
“A Lot of families fed, a lot of kids sent to college, a lot of houses built as a result of folks working here,” McKlarney said.
In 2015, environmental restrictions forced the plant to close its doors for good.
“They didn’t want to close the plant,” McKlarney said. “Certainly locals didn’t want to see the plant close but, when it happened, it was devastating from an economic standpoint.”
Now, with a recent $200,000 grant from the US Economic Development Administration, the county and Appalachian Power are planning a reuse study.
“There is a lot of work to be done here,” said McKlarney. “This study really determines what is the best future use, is it possible to use the existing building, we certainly hope that it is, but if it is not, what can we do to make sure this is a great industrial site when this is cleaned up.”
To learn more about what the Glen Lyn Power Plant meant to the folks in the county, I met with a Giles resident who worked at the plant for almost 40 years.
He said it was a great place to work, so when it closed it, was an extremely hard time for people.
“Everyone was sad,” said Greg Lee. “It was like a family breaking up.”
He said his biggest hope is that they can preserve the building.
“I would hate to see the building demolished, which was the original plan,” Lee said. “The building would be usable for somebody, but I would just hate to see it go totally down.”
The reuse study is expected to take several months.
Officials with the county said the last thing that they want to see is for this building to be destroyed.