Cookeville Exploring Potential For New Gas Department Facility, Selling Current Property For Downtown Use

Cookeville officials holding preliminary discussions about moving the North Oak Avenue Gas Department.

City Manager James Mills said over the last few years, the topic of the use of that property has been brought up

“The Gas Department could basically be located anywhere, we’ve seen a resurgence in our downtown over the last decade or so, and lots of things going on,” Mills said. “So is the Gas Department the best use of that property? Is there some more commercial/retail use or housing use that could go there?”

Additionally, Mills said the Gas Department building is essentially two structures, one that is newer and one that is much older and not in great condition. He said it is not necessarily environmentally friendly and there are concerns with heating and cooling, so there is a need to upgrade that portion.

Mills said they are exploring options right now to see if the city can locate a site to potentially relocate the building, whether there are funds to do so, and whether there is interest from the private enterprises in purchasing the site. He said it will take a couple of years should the city decide to move forward with it.

“If we locate a potential site and we decide to move forward with it we do have money in the budget to do site work and preliminary engineering work about the potential for a new location, a new facility,” Mills said.