A possible new home could be found for programs now housed at L.H. Jones Family Resource Center in the form of an old textile facility in Mount Airy.
The center is now located at the old Jones School, which last year was declared surplus property and put up for sale by the county government which now owns the former all-black campus.
A sale could displace various programs at the site which operate through the YVEDDI (Yadkin Valley Economic Development District Inc.) community action agency, such as Head Start, and a Yokefellow Cooperative Ministry food bank among other operations.
The county now leases the former school property to YVEDDI, which has been eyeing the possible move to another location since the sale plan was announced last year — triggered by rising maintenance costs associated with the aging facilities.
A solution has emerged regarding a possible new home which is centered on the former Lynn Hosiery Mill plant (part of Kentucky Derby Hosiery) at the corner of North South and Hay streets not far from Mount Airy High School. Manufacturing ceased there many years ago.
“That is a big building,” Mount Airy Mayor Ron Niland said Tuesday of the facility containing about 50,000 square feet on three levels which is centrally located.
This would be sufficient to accommodate not only the agencies now housed on Jones School Road but a Greater Mount Airy Habitat for Humanity ReStore component where items are sold to support the Habitat mission.
A meeting was held last week at the resource center, during which rough drawings of the proposal were presented, according to one source there.
“But at this point, no decision has been made,” added Niland, who explained that the potential relocation effort does not involve his function as mayor or city government — and it has not been asked to participate in such a move financially.
“I’m just trying to help everybody,” the mayor said of seeking to connect the dots with another possible location for Jones Resource Center programs to avoid service disruptions or other problems. “I’m doing this to benefit the community and trying to help these folks.”
Niland was instrumental in the formation of the local Habitat for Humanity organization in the 1990s. He explained Tuesday that his role with the resource center’s space needs is as a citizen advocate while also allowing a vacant industrial facility to possibly have a new purpose.
“I am not involved directly with any of it, but indirectly involved with all of it,” Niland said.
The former Lynn Hosiery building is owned by Bray Properties of Mount Airy, which has acquired similar facilities in recent years.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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