ELIZABETHTON, Tenn (WJHL) — An almost 15-year-old plan to build a state fish hatchery in Elizabethton is officially dead in the water.
Thursday night, the Elizabethton City Council voted to retake possession of 25 acres along the Watauga River in the city’s Cherokee Industrial Park.
The city sold the land to the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency in 2009. TWRA wanted to use the land to develop a fish hatchery to supply fish to state waterways.
But the project never got statewide support and the land sat unused.
Thursday night, council members voted to accept the TWRA’s offer to return the land to the city free of charge. Elizabethton city leaders said they hope to use the riverfront property for potential industrial or tourism purposes.
