This week, in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer. Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.
Reconnecting McDowell Moves Forward with Teacher Housing 19 Months Later
Listen
Share this Article
Asbestos abatement and environmental clean up began Tuesday at the vacant Best Furniture Store in downtown Welch in McDowell County Tuesday, some 19 months after a project to demolish and build new housing on the site was announced.
At a ribbon cutting in August 2014, representatives of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the main partners in the Reconnecting McDowell project, said they anticipated the entire project would be complete in 18 months.
“The current schedule is the asbestos and pigeon dropping removal is happening now for the next ten days and then the Best Furniture store will be demolished and then we start construction,” Randi Weingarten, President of the AFT said Tuesday at a press conference in Charleston.
Weingarten expects the $5.5 million Renaissance Village will be completed by September 2017.
The Village will provide affordable housing to young professionals– in particular teachers– as well as storefront space on the first floor for a coffee shop or deli in the hopes of spurring economic development in the town.
Weingarten explained the project had been delayed for a variety of reasons- unanticipated environmental issues with both demolition and its location in a floodplain and challenges raising the private donations necessary to complete the project.
Credit Ashton Marra / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten speaks with a participant before the Reconnecting McDowell Board meeting Tuesday.
“We want to make sure that the people who live in these apartments can pay the rent and so, just like with everything else in the Reconnecting McDowell project, we are now focused on sustainability,” Weingarten said, “and that’s why the private funding becomes so important.”
“It’s taking us longer to raise that matching money than we initially had hoped.”
Weingarten says the group still needs to raise between $500,000 and $1 million for the Renaissance Village from private donors. The project is also being funded through federal loans and grants.
Reconnecting McDowell is a partnership of the American Federation of Teachers, the West Virginia Board of Education, and private businesses that started in 2011. Its goal is to improve the lives of children in McDowell County by addressing issues that arise from poverty.
Add WVPB as a preferred source on Google to see more from our team
On this West Virginia Week, residents demand action on energy bills, the Hope Scholarship bill moves forward and changes to homeschooling requirements meets resistance.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, bills must be out of their respective committees by Sunday to be able to meet crossover day next Wednesday, and lawmakers are still working their way through next fiscal year’s budget. Also, we speak with Emmett Pepper, the policy director for Energy Efficient West Virginia, to learn about the Ratepayers Bill of Rights.
The regulations for vape and smoke shops include required licensing, location restrictions and signage requirements in an effort to curb appeal to children.
