In June, Fort Payne saw a digital flythrough of the old GH Metal building downtown. The renderings included a raised platform for watching trains with Lookout Mountain behind them, a plant atrium, pickleball courts, a skate park, and pedestrian bridges over the railroad tracks. In October, the next update to the City Council talked about asbestos and lead-based paint.
Both belong to the same plan, and the October conversation comes first. Whatever ends up on the two blocks between Second and Fourth Streets North depends less on which rendering people liked best. It depends more on what the sampling finds inside the building and on whether the city still owns the property while that gets dealt with.
Two Blocks, 83,000 Square Feet, and a Company That Is Still Here
Most people in town know the building by sight. It's the long industrial structure beside the railroad, spanning two blocks between Second and Fourth Streets North. At the June presentation, the design team put its size at roughly 83,000 square feet, according to Southern Torch's coverage of the meeting.
The "GH" goes back to The Gas House, which is what G.H. Metal Solutions was called when it started in Fort Payne in 1958. The company is still part of the local economy. In 2023 the Times-Journal reported that the council amended a tax abatement for a G.H. Metal Solutions expansion after its estimated cost rose from $5.7 million to $8.2 million, and that the company employed 400 people. The empty building downtown is a former facility. The company hasn't left town.
By the time of the 2024 State of the City address, the City of Fort Payne owned the old Gas House property, as the Times-Journal reported. Because the city owns it, the rest of this story works the way it does.
The Money Behind the Planning Came Through a Brownfields Grant
The design work, the public meetings, and the testing are paid for through federal brownfields money, which is meant for former industrial sites that may carry contamination. In 2024, the regional planning agency TARCOG received a $1.5 million EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant covering Athens, Fort Payne, and Gurley, The Madison Record reported.
That money is split among three cities and has a long list of uses:
| Planned under the coalition grant, over four years | Count |
|---|---|
| Phase I environmental assessments | 32 |
| Phase II environmental assessments | 25 |
| Cleanup plans | 15 |
| Revitalization plans | 3 |
Fort Payne's share was set aside for Phase I and Phase II studies of the former GH Metal property, and the city described a possible later cleanup grant application through TARCOG, according to the Times-Journal. The grant pays to find out what's in the building and to plan what could come next. Paying for the cleanup itself would be a separate step that the city would have to apply for.
Mayor Brian Baine connected the June design week directly to that grant. "This project represents an important component of the Brownfield Grant we received for the site, specifically the redevelopment phase," he said after the meeting, in Southern Torch's report.
What the June Week at the DeKalb Theatre Produced
Benjamin Farmer and the Farmer/Morgan Group worked out of the DeKalb Theatre for a week. They opened with an evening meeting on June 1, held open-door sessions that Tuesday and Wednesday, and presented concepts on June 4. Two ideas came out of what people told them:
- A green-space concept. The site would connect to the city park across Fourth Street. It would have an elevated platform with views of Lookout Mountain and passing trains, a plaza and community gathering space, and a plant atrium. The land across the railroad tracks could add pickleball courts, a skate park, an amphitheater, and a playground, with pedestrian bridges joining the two sides.
- A mixed-use concept. Parts of the building would become retail space, outdoor green space, an event hall, and a beer garden with room for food trucks. The land across the tracks would again become green space tied to the city park.
People at the meeting added two ideas of their own. One was to keep some of the machinery still in the building and display it, with the moving parts removed and the equipment coated so it would last. The other was to plan for less parking so more of the property could go to things people can use.
Mayor Baine reminded the room that these were conceptual plans, nothing was set in stone, and the process was still very early.
October Narrowed the Options and Put Testing First
At a special work session before a council meeting this October, Farmer came back with a tighter set of options, according to the Times-Journal's account of the session. One option is flexible warehouse space that isn't tied to any one type of business. The others mix commercial space with public areas that include some kind of green space. Farmer said these were possible ways forward that might not be the best fit for Fort Payne.
The warehouse option is new compared with June. It's also the plainest option, and it doesn't depend on the train platform or the beer garden.
He called the possibility of contamination the biggest concern with the property, and said the building may also have structural issues. When Council President Todd Simpson asked what the testing would look for, the answer was mainly asbestos and lead-based paint. The project is now moving into the phase where samples are collected to confirm whether those contaminants are actually there.
The October update reported no confirmed contamination, because sampling was still the next step.
Why City Ownership Matters During Cleanup
Councilman John Smith asked where cleanup money would come from. Farmer named possible sources, including revolving loan funds and EPA cleanup money the city could apply for. He also said the property would be better off staying in city hands through the cleanup phase, because some grants and financing options wouldn't be available if a private owner held it before cleanup began.
That explains the order of events. A buyer or developer is unlikely to come into the picture while questions remain about what's in the walls and paint. Farmer told the council that how the city chooses to reduce its risk on the site will be key to any future project, and that coordination between the public and private sectors can head off some problems.
Put together, the sequence looks like this:
- Sampling. Test the building for asbestos and lead-based paint and confirm what's actually there.
- Cleanup funding. If the tests show contamination, the city would apply for cleanup money, which some sources only offer while a public owner holds the property.
- Redevelopment. Only then would a version of the warehouse, mixed-use, or green-space concept become a practical choice.
Where Things Stand in November
Farmer told the council the October presentation would be released for public comment, and that he'd keep meeting with city officials over the following weeks. He said he hoped the work would keep moving over the next few months. No comment deadline or sampling date had been announced when the Times-Journal reported on the session. When the presentation comes out, the City of Fort Payne and the Times-Journal are the places most likely to carry it.
In June, the mayor said the city's goal was a space that "complements the character and success of our existing downtown, enhances walkability, and serves residents and visitors of all ages," in Southern Torch's report. If the comment period opens this winter, that's the time to speak up about the train platform, the preserved machinery, or the warehouse option, ahead of the sampling results and the funding decisions that follow them.
A two-block site beside the tracks, across Fourth Street from the city park, will shape what downtown Fort Payne looks like for years to come. If you're thinking about how that might affect the homes and blocks nearby, or you just want someone to talk it through with, the team at Valley Real Estate Co. follows these downtown decisions closely and is glad to talk. Let's Make Your Move.
