City and county commissioners are being asked to spend a total of

$2 million to improve the lone large-acreage industrial site that economic development leaders have to show potential employers.

City commissioners at their meeting tonight will discuss a plan that involves the city and county purchasing an 87-acre site just east of the East Hills Business Park, and then spending about $2 million to add seven feet of fill dirt to the site to accommodate a large industrial building.

The improvements would be in hopes of making the long-vacant industrial lot more attractive to companies considering a move to Lawrence.

“It is extremely important that we do this if we want to get some new business in Lawrence,” said Bob Stephens, the president of Douglas County Development Inc., the nonprofit group that owns the property and manages the East Hills Business Park.

DCDI is proposing that the city and county buy the vacant lot – which is an industrially zoned farm field near the northeast corner of East 1750 Road, or Noria Road, and County Road 442 – for $10. But the city and county would agree to spend approximately $2 million to make necessary improvements to accommodate up to a 400,000-square-foot building.

Stephens said the site receives consideration from prospects about two times per year and was in the running for a $100 million Hills Pet Food plant that eventually went to Emporia.

County Administrator Craig Weinaug said the raw state of the lot makes it difficult for Lawrence to compete with communities that have sites that are ready for a groundbreaking.

“Right now, we have to tell prospects to close their eyes and imagine that the lot has utilities to it and that it is at the proper elevation,” Weinaug said. “In my mind, it puts us at a significant disadvantage when we have to ask people to close their eyes and imagine what the lot can be.”

The $2 million cost would not make all the necessary improvements to the site. The funding likely would pay only for the estimated seven feet of fill dirt needed to ensure the property won’t flood in heavy rains. Other costs could include extending water and sewer service from the adjacent East Hills Business Park and improving roads in the area.

Finding ways to fund $2 million in improvements could be difficult, particularly for the city. City commissioners have bemoaned a tight budget for 2009, which includes a $1 million shortfall in funding for the city’s public transit system.

“It will be an issue of timing and budget resources,” City Manager David Corliss said. “But it is an important project. This is really our one site that is zoned, platted and annexed to accommodate a large employer.”

The site is the only vacant lot of more than 50 acres zoned for industrial uses in Douglas County. The site does have a history. It is the location for which in 2000 American Eagle Outfitters sought approval to build a distribution center. That project met opposition from some community members who had concerns about the quality of jobs and whether the site was appropriate. American Eagle Outfitters eventually located in Ottawa.

City commissioners, however, followed through with rezoning the 87-acre lot for industrial uses in hopes of attracting another company to the site.

City commissioners meet at 6:35 p.m. tonight at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.