Old Westover BAE Systems Site May Be Raised to Spur Redevelopment

An abandoned industrial site west of Johnson City could be elevated to make it more attractive for a future project.

BAE Systems abandoned its massive plant at 600 Main Street in Westover after it was wrecked by flooding in September 2011.

Officials estimated more than 12 million gallons of water poured into the 600,000-square-foot building.

BAE Systems moved its local operations to the Huron Campus in Endicott, which once was used as IBM's manufacturing complex.

The Westover property was owned by the federal government. It was known as Air Force Plant 59. About $20 million in federal money was used to demolish the facility in 2016. Since then, efforts to find an appropriate new use for the site have been unsuccessful.

Town of Union supervisor Robert Mack said a plan is being developed to raise the property on the south side of Main Street by eight or nine feet.

Mack told WNBF News that a pad could be placed on the elevated site that would be "shovel-ready" for a development project.

Mack said developers who have expressed an interest in the property have said the cost of bringing in "tons and tons of fill" and building a pad was too prohibitive.

Broome County Industrial Development Agency executive director Stacey Duncan said an application is being prepared to seek state funding for the site preparation work. She said she expects the request will be submitted by the end of the month.

Duncan said the cost of bringing the site above the floodplain could be about $4 million.

DEMOLITION VIDEO: Watch as workers began the process of tearing down the old BAE Systems plant in Westover on February 19, 2016.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.