City of Conover gets grant for rehabilitation of Warlong Glove Building

By: Dee Henry | Hickory Daily Record
Published: June 07, 2009

CONOVER --

The city of Conover recently learned it would receive approximately $2.1 million to create its planned passenger rail station.

The money comes through a Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) grant to use toward the rehabilitation and construction of the old Warlong Glove building on the Broyhill property. When finished, the project will provide a multi-modal transit station, the first in the area, which qualified the project for the grant money. The restructured glove factory will house the waiting area for the future Western North Carolina Passenger Rail Corridor.

Plans are for the Western Piedmont Regional Transit Authority to make their office in the new building, which would allow rail passengers to go from that form of transportation to buses run by WPRTA.

WPRTA is a multi-county transportation system between Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties, and the cities of Hickory, Conover and Newton.

"Our council is very excited for our citizens that the historic Warlong rehabilitation will become a reality," Councilman Lee Moritz Jr. said. "The Warlong structural inspection report described the building as a 'diamond in the rough.' We now have been awarded grant resources to make this vision a reality."

"This funding will redefine Conover's downtown district. I commend the city staff and everyone that worked so diligently in this effort," Councilman Don Beal said.

The renovation of the building, originally constructed in the 1900s, will take about 18 months. It is in the center of the downtown mixed-use project.

Conover was selected as a stop along the line by the N.C. Department of Transportation in April 2008. That department and the Federal Highway Administration will administer and oversee the project and must finish and approve all plans before bidding can begin in late summer.

Conover City Council selected Don Tise, of Tise & Keister Architects of Chapel Hill, to create engineering and construction plans.

"This is an exciting project for Conover and the entire region and will be a great asset to our downtown district," Councilman Kyle Hayman said. "We really appreciate all the support we've received from the NCDOT and the FHWA and all the help they have provided to the city to make this funding available."