Environmental Engineer Firm Selected for Vanceburg Shoe Factory Removal

An environmental engineer has been chosen to oversee the removal and clean-up of the old shoe factory building.

SRW, out of northern Kentucky, was chosen during a recent meeting of city council. The next step is to meet with the project manager to get paperwork started before the city can advertise for bids.

Buffalo Trace Area Development District representative Kristie Dodge said there is a three-year timeline on the project, but city officials are planning to have the building removed and the area ready for redevelopment in about two years.

The project is being paid for through two grants.

A $200,000 grant was approved in June, after the city applied for the third time. In addition to that grant, the city received an additional $50,000 EPA grant later in June.

“This is a project the city has worked on for a long time,” Ginn said. “We’re all very excited that it’s finally happened. The building has been in rough shape for a long time and it has become a danger to kids trying to get into the building and the community as a whole.”

The building is located on Rowley Street and about 75 percent of the roof has caved in. There is also asbestos in the construction materials.

The building which sits on the west end of the town originally housed L.V. Marks Shoe Company. It was purchased by Karl Kegley, a local businessman in the mid-1940s, according to Judge-Executive Todd Ruckel.

Kegley opened a surplus operation that ran through the Cold War. He would purchase truckloads of military surplus items from auctions and resell them to businesses around the country. He dealt locally and internationally in his business.

Ginn said the city is working on several ideas for the property once it has been cleaned up, but nothing has been set in stone.

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