Q: In traveling to and from Florida, there is a large industrial plant that appears to be vacant on the east side of I-75 in Adel. It looks like it is rusting away to nothing. I was wondering what that place was and what the future might hold for it?
—Stephen Ross, McDonough
A: SierraPine owned the plant and produced medium density particleboard there for several years, but the company closed it in 2014.
Blue Sky Biomass Georgia has since bought the plant and is transforming it to manufacture wood pellets that are used to burn in furnaces, Jerry Connell, president and CEO of the Adel-Cook Chamber of Commerce, told Q&A on the News.
Blue Sky Biomass uses waste wood and “residual material from sawmilling” to produce the pellets, it states on its website (blueskyga.com).
Q: The AJC mentioned that Joe Patten’s personal possessions are going up for auction. It also briefly describes his apartment inside the Fox Theatre as stretching over three stories and being close to 4,000 square feet. What does the Fox plan to do with that area?
—Darryl Weaver, Atlanta
A: The Fox Theatre doesn't have a plan for the space at this time, a spokesman told Q&A on the News in an email.
Patten, who had lived rent-free in the 3,640-square-foot apartment inside the Fox since 1979, died on April 7.
The theater auctioned his belongings last month. Patten never married.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Kelsey Green contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
About the Author
