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A historic pump house in Victoria’s Riverside Park could be sold to investors interested in making it into a public business.

Parties from both sides declined to disclose the type of business because the deal isn’t complete, they said.

“It started out as a way to find somebody to lease it and maybe turn it into a concession stand where people can turn in canoes,” said Lewis Neitsch, a city parks commissioner. “An individual has gotten a hold of it and wants to spend a substantial amount of money down there.”

The city council authorized the staff to begin the process that could lead to sale of the property, which is in the 1200 block of Stayton Street. City Attorney Thomas Gwosdz said because it is public property, the city will take bids on it.

People have expressed interest in the property, but it’s premature to discuss details now, he said. “At this point, we don’t even know who would be bidding on something like this.”

The city council considered demolishing the building about three years ago at a price of $250,000 to $300,000. But Neitsch, who was on the council at the time, and Council Member Tom Halepaska asked the council to wait.

“I begged the council to let it sit,” Halepaska said. “They said OK and in the meantime we tried to find some uses for it.”

Neitsch said the potential investors are a local businessmen and out-of-town backers.

Halepaska said if the deal works, it will save the city the cost of demolishing the building and put an improvement on the tax roll. It also costs the city $20,000 a year to maintain the property and building.

John Johnston, the city floodplain administrator, said it appears the land is in the 100-year floodplain, but not the building. More exact measurements would be needed to confirm that, he said.

“But even with it being in this portion of the floodplain, development is allowed, especially commercial development,” he said. “Commercial developers have the opportunity to use materials that are flood resistant and make sure that if water does get in there, they can just wash it out and go right back.”

The city used the pump house as a water plant until 2001, when the city switched from well water to river water, said Lynn Short, Victoria’s public works director.

“When we were on groundwater, it was a water supply plant,” he said. “We had two water wells that pumped into it and water was treated there.”

A Commerce utility department employee was taken to an Athens hospital Monday morning after suffering burns to his face and arms while working on water system pump station near Banks Crossing.

It appears an electrical fire started when equipment at the city’s Beck Road pump station malfunctioned at about 8 a.m., according to Steve Nichols, director of Jackson County Emergency Services.

The worker received first-degree burns to his face and arms.

Paramedics treated the man at the scene and took him to Athens Regional Medical Center, where he is in stable condition, according to a news release issued by Nichols.

Beck Road runs off U.S. Highway 441 on the north side of Commerce, near Banks Crossing and Interstate 85.

This is Britain’s finest Victorian Water Works and the only one in the Midlands to be preserved as a complete working water pumping station. Papplewick Pumping Station was built between 1882 - 1884 to supplement the water supply for the growing city of Nottingham.
In the main building there are two massive beam pumping engines, thought to be the last built by the famous firm of James Watt & Co. of Soho Works, Birmingham and London.
These two 140hp. Engines lifted water from the 200 foot deep well, dug into the sandstone subground and pumped the water into the reservoir that supplied Nottingham.
These beams engines worked for 85 years and ceased regular operation in 1969, when electric pumps were fitted in the pilot well near the main gate. These automatic electric pumps saved the manpower required to stoke three of the 6 Lancashire boilers that feed steam to the two beam engines.
After the preservation group took over the upkeep of the station in 1974 and by 1975 Papplewick was opened to allow the public to view this fine water works, along with a growing number of other steam powered engines that have come from other local sites. These include the Linby Colliery Winding Engine and the Stanton Triple Expansion Engine.
Other Waterworks in the Nottinghamshire area only survive as preserved buildings without any of the original steam powered pumping equipment.