Venezuelan company to use defunct school for offices, proposes to share space with community
The barely-used Medicine Bow High School, built in 1980, recently sold for $250,000.
Members of the Medicine Bow Town Council meet with the team from Vepica to complete the sale of the High School Wednesday. From left, Dean Byrne (DDV, LLC), Lelis Gonzalez (Vepica), Shane Blakeman (councilman), Kevin Coleman (mayor), Chip Walker (Vepica), Joaquin Obregon (Vepica).
On April 19, Kevin Colman, mayor of Medicine Bow, signed over the deed to the Medicine Bow High School–built in 1980–to representatives from the global engineering company Venezolana De Proyectos Integrados C.A. (Vepica), headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela.
The purchase price was $250,000.
Warren (Chip) Parker, Lelis Gonzalez and Joaquin Obregon from Vepica were present for the signing along with Colman, town council member Shane Blakeman and Dean Byrne of DDV, LLC, a construction and energy consulting company.
Colman believes the investment Vepica is making is going to be an economic shot in the arm for Medicine Bow and surrounding communities.
"I have always said, you need one company that is willing to invest in your community, the way Vepica is, to then kickstart other services off of that, and I think that is where we are at," Colman said. "I used to be one of those people that said wind provides very little to the community that they effect, but Vepica is the first company in 10 years that has taken the viewpoint of being a partner and invest in the community."
Keeping the community in mind, Vepica wants to allow townspeople to use the gymnasium and Vepica wants to keep it separate from the facility being planned. Vepica would like to see the gym have a recreation board set up and to run the place as a totally independent entity.
"Just to give you an overview of what is going to take place in the next week or so, Friday I have a team coming in to work with the city engineer, so you will see the start of activity that is going to go on for the next six or seven months," said Parker on April 19.
The school has to be rehabilitated 60 days before the first of Verpica's turbines arrive in August or September 2018.
"We are going to be working quickly to get that place shipshape," said Parker.
The idea is to not only get the school building set up as a regional center for Vepica, but to add offices and computer rooms so other energy companies could use it too, says Parker.
"We are excited," said Colman.
Vepica broke ground on their new Medicine Bow work center on April 21 and assembled contractors to go through the entire school, taking notes on what was going to be required to get the place user friendly, with Blakeman leading the tour.
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