By Jacob Martin, The Preston County News & Journal
ARTHURDALE W.Va. — Arthurdale Heritage Inc. has announced plans to open a new preservation trade center.
Arthurdale Heritage Inc. with the Preservation Alliance chapter of West Virginia (PAWV) is working to open a West Virginia Historic Trades Center. The old Arthurdale High School has been chosen to house the trade center.
Elizabeth Satterfield, curator and director of education said that Arthurdale Heritage along with the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia identified the need for historic trades opportunities in West Virginia.
While there are centers like this elsewhere in the country, there isn’t anything like this in the state, she said.
Darlene Bolyard, executive director for Arthurdale Heritage Inc., said the new trade school’s goal is to answer the need for historic trade preservation and to increase career retention within West Virginia.
“We are losing a lot of our population who are going elsewhere for jobs,” she said. “Jobs in the preservation historic trade field are very high paying, they are jobs that people really enjoy doing. It’s a passion not a job. It’s a career choice, not a job.”
Not only would the school help retain workers, but it would also stimulate the state’s economy, she said.
“Really without question (the trade center) is the biggest thing that Arthurdale heritage has ever attempted, and it has the ability to do tremendous things for the entire state; not just Preston County,” Bolyard said.
