Rome-Floyd County Development Authority Acquires $7.6M for Battey Project
While there aren’t many visual changes yet at large projects like the Battey Business Complex and Enterprise Corner, there’s a lot going on as Floyd County’s business landscape continues growing.
Up to this point, the Rome-Floyd County Development Authority has acquired $7.6 million in federal environmental assessment and cleanup grant funds for the Battey project.
The development authority purchased the former Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital complex from the state with $2.25 million approved by voters in the 2013 and 2017 SPLOST packages. The Rome City Commission rezoned the North Division Street site for heavy industrial use last May.
It will likely be another 8 to 10 months before demolition begins taking place in earnest, RFCDA President Missy Kendrick said.
However, the longstanding history of that property is still deeply rooted in the community and they’re working to preserve some of the history of the site.
“My grandfather was a patient there when it was a TB hospital,” Floyd County Commission Chair Allison Watters said. “There are a lot of connections all around the community.”
The site began as the Battey General Hospital, which was used during World War II, and eventually became a state run and nationally recognized tuberculosis treatment facility. The property, in 1996, became solely a mental health treatment campus as part of Georgia’s mental health treatment network. The state closed the campus for that use, for the most part, in 2010 after the settlement of a federal lawsuit. The property and 60-plus buildings on it lay fallow until it was purchased by the authority using SPLOST funds.
There’s already a title for the proposed documentary — “The Echoes of Care.” Michelle Phillips, the project analyst at the authority, said they’re seeking a $6,000 grant to produce a documentary about the many uses of the facility.
Another project moving forward in the background is the Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development certification process for the Enterprise Corner property west of Kingston Downs.
The site, located along U.S. 411 at 231 Bass Ferry Road, was purchased by the authority for just under $4.2 million in SPLOST funds in 2021.
The GRAD process essentially allows certified sites to fast-track construction projects through advance due diligence. That due diligence process is currently underway. Almost all the environmental reports have been completed, Kendrick told the authority board Tuesday.
In addition, the authority received a $50,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant for the development and engineering to run water and sewer lines to the property. They’re in the process of closing out that grant and, once finalized, those funds will go to the City of Rome.
Voters approved 2003 SPLOST earmarks for water and sewer expansions that would serve the site. In that SPLOST, $3,400,000 is allocated for a water line expansion along U.S. 411 and another $4,500,000 is allocated for a sewer expansion.
Home grown expansions
A few industries that made expansion or purchase announcements recently have already made good on their claims and exceeded their prior projected growth.
Homegrown Family Foods, which acquired the branded dry mix portion of Summit Hill Foods operations in 2023, has moved their operations into an 180,000 square foot building at 6777 New Calhoun Highway.
That location, a spec building built by Plymouth REIT, was one of two large buildings on that site.
Homegrown initially planned to invest $4.7 million, Kendrick told the authority board. That’s now expanded to $7.8 million and 39 new jobs.
“Some news we thought might have been bad initially, with the closing of Summit Hill Foods, turned into a bonus for our community,” Kendrick said.
Another business, Clean Air Industries, moved into a building on Superior Drive in West Rome and since has begun expanding its operations — including the purchase of an additional building nearby.
They’ve expanded the 35,000 square foot facility at 7 Superior Drive, adding another 15,000 square feet of space, and the 19 Superior Drive location has 30,000 square feet of warehouse space already.
The initial Clean Air investment was to be $4 million with 22 additional jobs. That’s since expanded to $5.6 million and 44 new jobs, Kendrick said.
Formerly, Clean Air America, the company acquired Kentucky-based Amtech LC in 2023 and expanded its air filtration portfolio. Both companies manufacture air filtration and dust capturing systems but CAA primarily served customers in the vocational arena and Amtech LC focused on industrial applications.