City extends lease for business displaced by rec center land buy

Jan. 23—A Crossville business will get a little more time to close out their work before vacating the building on Livingston Rd.

But Tracy McGinnis, owner of McGinnis Tile and Stone, said he doesn't believe he can find a suitable site to move after the city takes possession of the property.

"We'll probably end up liquidating," McGinnis told the Crossville City Council during its Jan. 3 work session.

Tuesday, the council agreed to a lease extension through June 30 of this year to give McGinnis time to wrap up his business and vacate the premises.

McGinnis stopped taking new orders in November and said current work would keep his business busy through about April.

While he has been approved for a loan to build a new building, McGinnis said its been difficult finding a suitable site and land prices in the community have soared in recent years.

"We don't have much options right now," he said. "The land is just astronomical. In the last couple of years, it's increased dramatically."

He would also need to install some specialized equipment, like water filtration and a crane, which can't be moved from the current site.

McGinnis did not own the building where his business is located. The property was sold to the city in 2021 as part of a land purchase for the proposed indoor recreation center.

Crossville Mayor RJ Crawford said the situation with the business is why he did not support the purchase.

"If we weren't purchasing the land, you would have probably continued to stay there?" Crawford asked.

McGinnis said they had a long-range plan to build their own shop in two or three years, though the increase in land costs would have delayed that, he said.

"Some of the equipment in there — I probably have $250,000 in equipment," he said. "The business could have been sold four or five times, if I had owned the building."

Crawford offered to help McGinnis any way he could, providing him with a contact at the Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce and potential real estate listings in the area.

"This is why I did not want to purchase that land," he said. "This was my concern, of losing business," Crawford said.

Council Member Mike Turner agreed.

"We don't need to lose businesses. We need to gain businesses," he said.

However, the city now owns the property and the building will need to be torn down before construction could begin on a recreation center.

McGinnis said he needed about two months to clear the building out.

City Engineer Tim Begley said he hopes to issue a bid for building abatement in June. The facility does have asbestos materials, and he estimated it would take about two months for that work to be completed prior to a potential groundbreaking on an indoor recreation center in September or October.

The council's motion approving the lease extension notes McGinnis must accommodate the city's engineering staff or other representatives as they prepare bids for asbestos abatement.

In other business, the council approved the following:

—a sign ordinance variance granting Flynn Sign Co. one year to complete sign construction on the Northwest Connector, which is still under construction. The variance should allow time for the road work to be complete before the sign is constructed.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.