Anderson County Commission votes to sell 205 Main for $300K

Meeting Monday night, the Anderson County Commission voted 10-6 to accept a bid of $300,000 from Rusty Wallace Chevrolet for the property at 205 Main Street in Clinton.

The moves comes a week after a higher bid of $400,100 had been accepted and recommended for approval by the county Purchasing Committee, but the prospective buyer backed out, leaving the auto dealership as the last bidder standing.

Rusty Wallace Chevrolet has been eyeing the property across from its dealership in downtown Clinton for some time now as the site of a maintenance center. They have remained steadfast in both their interest and their asking price.

The former events center, was purchased for $600,000 in November of 2017 for use as a senior center following a vote by the County Commission without being inspected, despite assurances it had been. Shortly after moving into the newly-acquired building, officials discovered numerous issues, including mold, that prevented it from being used as a senior center. Since then, the county has found and purchased a building better suited for that purpose at 96 Mariner Point Drive in Clinton for $500,000, and the Office on Aging is preparing to move into their new digs sometime later this year. The county has tried for years to either sell the building or find a governmental use for it, to no avail.

With the Commission voting to accept the Rusty Wallace bid, it has sustained an obvious financial loss on the transaction, but closed the door on the long and winding tale of 205 Main. Voting to accept the bid and sell the property were Commissioners Catherine Denenberg, Chuck Fritts, Robert Jameson, Robert McKamey, Steve Mead, Rick Meredith, Bob Smallridge, Shain Vowell, Tracy Wandell and Jerry White. Voting “no” were Commissioners Josh Anderson, Jerry Creasey, Tim Isbel, Theresa Scott, Denver Waddell and Phil Yager.