CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Nine communities in West Virginia will receive expert help addressing the issue of abandoned and dilapidated buildings in their main streets, business districts and neighborhoods courtesy of the Northern WV Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University.
The communities of Moundsville, Parsons, Hamlin, Thomas, Whitesville, Terra Alta, Glenville, Charleston (West Side Main Street) and Morgantown will receive technical assistance grants, valued at $10,000 each, providing technical assistance and expertise to identify, research, and prioritize their abandoned buildings and create redevelopment plans to turn problem properties into community resources.
The grants are part of the Brownfield Assistance Center’s BAD (Brownfields, Abandoned, Dilapidated) Buildings Program.
According to Luke Elser, BAD Buildings Program Manager at WVU, each community will now examine a variety of potential solutions and determine which ones will actually work in their setting.
“All of the work will be done in collaboration between local elected officials and community volunteers – everyone will have a voice at the table because everyone is being impacted by these abandoned and dilapidated properties,” Elser says.
Funding for the BAD Buildings Program is being provided by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation through the West Virginia University Foundation.
For more information about the BAD Buildings Program or the Northern WV Brownfield Assistance Center, visit www.wvbrownfields.org, or contact Luke Elser, Northern WV Brownfields Assistance Center, 304-293-6990, [email protected].