[font=Verdana]Grant County, NM faces many changes in 2006 -- from the demolition of old landmarks and eyesores to the construction of new projects -- with potential boosts to the local economy as new businesses come to the area.[/font]

[font=Verdana]The county and Silver City will be digging deep into their pockets in 2006 with the town's demolition of the Hillcrest Hospital, which could cost several million dollars, and the county venturing into the construction of a much-needed detention center.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Many county residents will be chagrined to watch the first steps in the process of removing the Hurley Smelter stacks. Phelps Dodge is demolishing the smelter and the stacks, which have become landmarks to many area residents.[/font]

[font=Verdana]With the increase in expenditures for demolition projects, it is perhaps beneficial that the county may see at least two new businesses open their doors.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Teleperformance USA, a call center representing Sprint-Nextel, has signed a lease to occupy the former Stream building on Highway 180 and Trans-Lux Theaters has proposed building a new $4.5 million, seven screen movie theater in Silver City.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Gini Mercer, Trans-Lux assistant vice president, said the theater is "a go" and will be coming to [/font][font=Verdana]Silver[/font][font=Verdana]City[/font][font=Verdana], but no timeline as to when construction will begin is set.[/font]

[font=Verdana]"We are anxiously awaiting the theater," Mercer said.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Finally, the continuance of large, crowd-drawing annual events like the Blues Festival and Tour of the Gila continue to highlight the county's summer months, bringing short surges of economic aid to local businesses.[/font]

[font=Verdana]The town of [/font][font=Verdana]Silver[/font][font=Verdana] City was able to purchase the dilapidated [/font][font=Verdana]Hillcrest[/font][font=Verdana]Hospital[/font][font=Verdana] in late 2004 from owner George Mesa. The structure, an eyesore that locals have wished to see removed for nearly 20 years, remains standing while environmental assessments are completed.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Town Manager Alex Brown said the hospital will hopefully come down in 2006. Brown said reviews of the structure by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Environment Department are currently delaying the demolition process.[/font]

[font=Verdana]"We will have to clean it up and get the engineering oversight done," Brown said. "Then we can put out bids for remediation and clean-up."[/font]

[font=Verdana]Brown said the cost of destroying the structure will depend on how extensive a cleanup the EPA requires. He added that the town currently has $500,000 available for the demolition and has access to the state Environment Department's loan fund.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Since Stream International closed its doors in 2003, leaving nearly 700 workers without jobs, the state-of-the-art facility has remained empty. The facility should soon reopen with as many as 500 jobs.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Teleperformance [/font][font=Verdana]USA[/font][font=Verdana] has signed a lease to occupy the facility. The [/font][font=Verdana]Salt Lake City[/font][font=Verdana] company will be representing Sprint-Nextel and will occupy 40,000 square feet of the near 66,000-square-foot structure. The company is expected to bring as much as $150,000 to the local economy in gross receipts revenues.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Following numerous break-outs and continual security and maintenance issues with the 32-year-old detention center, the county has resigned itself to building a new state-of-the-art facility.[/font]

[font=Verdana]The new 150-bed structure will be funded through a voter-approved, general obligation bond that passed in August. Grant County Manager John Saari said the county is in the process of selecting an architect for the project and should make an announcement around Jan. 4.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Saari said the construction on the new facility should take about 18 months following a planning and bid period. He said the first phases of construction should begin in 2006.[/font]

[font=Verdana]No definite plans for the current detention center have been laid out and the cost for the project remains to be seen, Saari said.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Since the 1960s the pair of smelter stacks at the Hurley smelter have stood as landmarks on the horizon.[/font]

[font=Verdana]The structures will start coming down in 2006 and should be completely removed by the end of 2007. Richard Peterson, spokesman for Phelps Dodge said the smelter no longer serves a purpose.[/font]

[font=Verdana]"The salvation of the facility began in December and all the building will be coming down in 2006," Peterson said.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Peterson said the stacks will be the last structures to come down. Sand-blasting of the short stack, which was erected in 1939, will begin in 2006 to remove lead-based paint. The paint, which spells out the name of the previous owner, Kennecott, will be sent off-site for proper disposal.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Sourced from: [/font][font=Verdana]Silver[/font][font=Verdana]City[/font][font=Verdana] Sun News[/font]