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This week, ballads tell stories about all kinds of real-life events, but after Hurricane Helene, one group of ballad singers felt some topics were still too raw. Also, the author of a book on ancient Ohio credits a former grad student with introducing him to the region’s mysterious earthworks. And, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage.
Reconnecting McDowell Moves Forward with Teacher Housing 19 Months Later
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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
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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.
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When Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina in 2024, it took lives and upended communities. A community of ballad singers lost a place where they could share their tradition, but what was lost could be restored.
The analysis places the total tax income from the two projects at over $231 million annually, a fraction of the roughly $77 billion the companies plan to invest developing the data centers.
