Demolition Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Communities Anxious to Ramp Up ‘Tear Down’ Projects

Mercer County is one of 21 municipalities getting a total of more than $9 million in grant funding for unsound structure demolition.

Gov. Jim Justice and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) held an event last Friday in the Mercer county town of Matoaka to announce the 21 West Virginia communities receiving more than $9.2 million in grant funding to remove abandoned and dilapidated structures across the state.

Mercer County Commision president Gene Buckner said the $1.5 million they’re receiving compliments the nearly $2 million total going to Mercer cities Bluefield and Princeton.

“We collaborated together and I think the WVDEP, the parent group that takes care of distributing the money for this project saw what we were doing,” Buckner said. “They liked what they saw and put forth an effort to get us involved.”

Buckner said there are 800 to 1,000 properties that need to be razed. He said the three entities, already with a project system in place and dozens being torn down, are working together to set priorities. He said the growing southern West Virginia tourism industry tops the to-do list.

“What we looked at is what is being seen when tourists come to the county. We try to get to the main corridors first,” Buckner said. “Our progress shows that we have the ability to make this project work for the whole state.”

Buckner said dilapidated structures are a state-wide blight.

“It’s not only important to Mercer County, it’s important to the state. Getting these buildings torn down and then moving along with the lot that they’re sitting on and replacing that with grass,” Buckner said. “Sometimes it just makes a big difference when people come from out of state to look at the properties that we have available in our county.”

Buckner said the more all involved work to tear down the old and rebuild the new, the more prosperity the state will see.

W.Va. To Receive $52 Million From FEMA To Rebuild Herbert Hoover High In Kanawha County

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide West Virginia $52.3 million to rebuild Herbert Hoover High School after devastating flooding in 2016 damaged the building.

The original school building was demolished last fall after it was determined to be beyond repair.

West Virginia Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin made the announcement of the funding from FEMA in a press release Friday.

Since the 2016 flood, students and staff at Herbert Hoover High School have held classes on the grounds of Herbert Hoover Middle, outside of Clendenin in Kanawha County. The high school has been operating out of fenced in portable structures linked with a covered pier since 2017.

Students have access to science labs, smart TVs and a commons area with a covered plaza.

Herbert Hoover High’s Principal Mike Kelley said in a phone call with West Virginia Public Broadcasting that he and his staff are excited to finally be moving forward. He said, while they are grateful for the temporary facility, it is not built to last like the new building will be. He said the new building will allow the students and community to flourish and create a “new home for the Huskies.”

The new school is expected to be completed in 2021.

This summer marked three years since the 2016 flood that killed 23 people, destroyed homes, schools and businesses, and caused about $300 million worth of damages.

Demolition to Clear Way for Teacher Housing in McDowell County

Demolition will start soon on two buildings to clear the way for new apartments for teachers in a blighted southern West Virginia community.

A news release says the Best Furniture and Katzen buildings in downtown Welch will be torn down starting Thursday.

The new space will house the Renaissance Village apartment complex, which will primarily be intended for teachers.

The apartments are a key component of the Reconnecting McDowell partnership. That project led by the American Federation of Teachers and its many partners aims to improve opportunities in impoverished McDowell County.

The 30-unit Renaissance Village will include rental apartments, a common area for residents and street-level retail establishments, like a coffee shop.

The news release says the project will be the first multistory construction in Welch in 50 years.

Demolition to Start at Huntington Housing Complex

Demolition is expected to start next week at a Huntington public housing complex.

Huntington West Virginia Housing Authority Executive Director Vickie Lester tells The Herald-Dispatch that demolition on three buildings at the Northcott Court Housing Complex will likely begin Monday. The work is expected to take up to three years.

The Housing Authority has considered the complex outdated and inadequate for its residents. The 30 housing units, built in the 1940s, were boarded up in June.

Residents were relocated starting last year either to another public housing site or they received vouchers to pay for other types of housing.

The city plans to convert the site along Hal Greer Boulevard into a commercial district.

Freedom Industries Plans Tank Demolition for Monday

After running into asbestos problems, the company at the center of a January spill into West Virginia’s biggest water supply plans to start dismantling its tanks Monday.

Freedom Industries Chief Restructuring Officer Mark Welch described the new start time Tuesday in bankruptcy court in Charleston.

The company has delayed the teardown multiple times. Freedom stalled its start last weekend because of asbestos issues in tank gaskets and elsewhere.

Freedom is under state orders to demolish its Charleston site, where a leaky tank contaminated the water source downstream. For days, 300,000 residents couldn’t use tap water for most purposes.

Welch says the site should be cleared out in three or four weeks, but the company is proceeding slowly and carefully.

Freedom then must remediate the chemical damage done to the site.