APPROVAL OF THE FOLLOWING LOCAL GRANT WAS RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMISSION:
Russell County Board of Supervisors (#4430)
Three Rivers Destination Center – Planning Grant for A&E and Construction Readiness
$260,000.00 Requested
Project Summary: Commission funds are requested to complete planning and design work for the Three Rivers Destination Center in St. Paul. This request will fund all tasks necessary to make the project construction ready, including property survey and subsurface investigations, architectural and engineering design, site preparation plans, landscape and gateway design, exhibit and interior schematics, permitting, and final construction cost estimates. The Three Rivers Destination Center will provide space for visitor services, workforce training, and outfitter certification, while also linking guests to the Clinch River State Park and nearby trails, rivers, and downtowns.
Matching Funds:
- $209,590 – Appalachian Regional Commission
- $64,200 – Russell County (Site Prep and Development) – in-kind
Project Outputs:
- Completion of Planning and Design of The Three Rivers Destination Center
- 9,125 new visitors to the region
- Creation of 75 new jobs (indirect)
- $875,000 increase in visitor spending
Staff Comments: This request replaces the existing grant (#3464) approved in September 2018 under the Special Projects Committee. Since that time the project has required multiple extensions due to numerous delays and changes to the project. The most significant change is that the original grantee, Heart of Appalachia, is no longer involved in the project. This is problematic because the Letter of Agreement, which describes the Commission’s security interest in the project, was signed by HOA. Rather than pursue an extension for #3464, staff worked with the current project contacts (Russell County) to facilitate the submission of a new grant request. This will allow the existing grant, which expired in September 2025, to be closed.
Russell County will now own, operate, and maintain the facility. A brief operating plan was provided which describes the general governance and staffing plan for the Center. Russell County is in the process of hiring a full-time Tourism Director who will be responsible for oversight and management of the facility. The Center will offer professional office space for organizations supporting tourism development, outdoor recreation access, business growth, and regional collaboration. These include the Clinch River Valley Initiative (CRVI), Heart of Appalachia Tourism Authority (HOA), and Friends of Southwest Virginia. The ownership structure described in the operating plan provides improved project stability and increased sustainability for the facility.
Commission funds, which are required to match committed ARC funding, will be used to complete A&E activities. A portion of the funding provided by TRRC is also required to complete the match requirements for a $1.5M ARC POWER grant intended for construction. Failure to approve this application would have an immediate negative impact on the stability of the ARC funds. For this reason it is imperative that Commission funds remain committed to the project. Matching funds for this application are committed from the existing ARC grant as well as in-kind contributions from Russell County related to site preparation and development activities. The County also incurred additional expenses directly related to planning and design during the previous phase of the project. These expenses were used to meet the match requirement for grant #3464. Commission staff (Southwest Regional Director) will closely monitor the use of TRRC and matching funds to ensure that activities occur concurrently. At no time will Commission disbursements exceed documented match. An updated construction budget will be developed when design is completed, however the cost is expected to increase. It is likely that a second application supporting construction will be submitted to a future TRRC funding round.
Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends a grant award of $260,000. Matching funds are required to be spent concurrently with Commission funds.
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About The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission
The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission is a 28-member body created by the 1999 General Assembly. Its mission is the promotion of economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities, using proceeds of the national tobacco settlement. To date, the Commission has awarded over 2000 grants totaling more than $1.1 billion across the tobacco region of the Commonwealth and has provided $309 million in indemnification payments to tobacco growers and quota holders.
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