Longshot at Lime

The idea that one of Baker County’s industrial eyesores could be transformed into a showplace for “green” technology seems a bit farfetched.

Perhaps more than a bit.

The place is Lime.

Lime, which is next to Interstate 84 just west of Huntington, is the site of a cement plant that closed 30 years ago.

Today the crumbling remnants resemble a chunk of Cleveland or Detroit.

Yet the place, which the county acquired through foreclosure, has attracted some attention the past few years.

Paul Vaden of Tigard has paid Baker County $51,000 — none of it refundable — to secure an option to buy the 1,062-acre property. He has until April 2011 to either pay $320,000 and take the property, or else it stays in public ownership.

More recently, Steven Golieb of Orem, Utah, has proposed to incorporate Lime. Golieb says he has talked with a couple dozen businesses about opening stores in the city.

Although we’re skeptical, the site has advantages, including proximity to the freeway and the railroad.

Longshot or not, a reinvigorated Lime would be a boon for Baker County’s economy. And we’ll take that wherever it happens.